Elemental Specials (Wizardess Heart)
by Fonix Girl
Summary: These are all the specials chapters from my main story, Elemental Wizardess (Heart). Some won't make sense unless you've read the actual story, as well as the side stories. I do tell when they happened, if only vaguely, or if I just wanted to do them. All new ones from the time this was published on will only be published here, instead of in between Elemental chapters. Enjoy!
1. Author's Note

Hey everyone! It's Fonix Girl. After one helpful review from Sybbie, I decided to take out all of the specials chapters from in between the normal Elemental chapters and put them into their own separate story (heaven knows that there's enough to do it). The ones that have already been posted will remain where they are, but I'll also put them here. All new ones from this point on will be put here

Therefore, unless you've read my Elemental Wizardess (Heart) story, a lot of these won't make much sense.

I've also put all the reference/guide chapters right after this and before the specials chapters.

Please enjoy them! This'll be updated fairly regularly (pretty much with every major holiday and whenever I've got a random thing I typed up that doesn't really fit into the plotline), so...yeah.

Now, onto the chapters!


	2. Selene's Family Guide

This is not really a chapter, but more of a clarification guide. As you all know, I've been pretty vague about Selene's very large family. And it's been driving me positively nuts! They all appear at some point in the story, and some play pretty important roles later on, so I decided to put together a character guide for Selene's family! Hopefully, this makes things not only easier for me, but for you guys, who don't have the author's expanded vision which can see everything about a story, past the words that are put on the page. Enjoy!

* * *

Note: Ages are for after Selene's 17th birthday, which, ironically, is the winter solstice.

Note 2: There might be some conflictions with previous chapters. I did my best to make sure that I fixed everything I could in the previous chapters, but I might have missed something. This is, for sure, the complete collection of Selene's brothers and their families. Even if it's different in previous chapters, consider this to be correct. Thank you!

Note 3: All of Selene's brothers are taller than her, and most of her sisters are too. All of her brothers have straight brown hair and everyone (excepting Johnathan) have matching brown eye.

* * *

7 brothers

3 wives

3 girlfriends

6 nephew's (wife 1 has two, wife 2 has three, wife 4 has one.)

#.) Brother (Age)

CD) Character Description

CP) Character Personality

MT) Magical Talent

A.) Wife (W)/Girlfriend (G) (Age)

CD) Character Description

CP) Character Personality

MT) Magical Talent

B.) Children (Age)

(Children's descriptions may vary)

* * *

 **1.)** Johnathan (31)

CD) Silver eyes (Like Selene's), brown hair

CP) He is the oldest of Selene's brothers, and has pretty much been the father figure in her life (he's 14 years older than her). Like his wife, Selene's more like his daughter than his sister. Selene really looks up to him.

MT) his magic tends to not make much sense most of the time to anyone but him...it's pretty random...but fun...and strange...and I'll shut up now...

 **A.)** Cynthia (W) (31)

CD) hazel eyes, dark brown hair

CP) Cynthia is very motherly. She loves children and treats Selene as more of a daughter than a sister-in-law. She pretty much has been Selene's mother figure since Selene's actual mother died when she was seven.

MT) standard magics, is good with organization, cooking, and housekeeping spells and the like though...

 **B.)** Galvin (10)

CD) silver eyes, dark brown hair

CP) Galvin is a happy child. He's like his aunt Selene when it comes to the love of being outside. Unlike Selene, cold weather isn't a problem-Galvin loves being outside whenever it's possible, no matter the weather or the temperature.

Elvy (6)

CD) hazel eyes, brown hair

CP) Elvy loves chasing after his big brother and going on adventures with him. The two play-pretend all sorts of adventures and get into all sorts of things. He's a little more reserved than Galvin, though.

* * *

 **2.)** Matthias (29)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) Matthias is a very collected person. He's good at keeping calm, and good at calming others, whether they be human or animals. He helps others think rationally and calm down in stressful situations and the like.

MT) animal/tamer magics

 **A.)** Marie (W) (27)

CD) light green eyes, light blonde hair

CP) Marie is Selene's "favorite" sister (only because she's more accepting of Selene's dislike of being constantly dressed up and fussed over) and lets people be as they are. She's very accepting of who people are and won't try to change them.

MT) specifically veterinary magics

 **B.)** Alric (6) (the one the Sakura the wing-rabbit likes)

CD) green-hazel eyes, light brown hair

CP) He likes animals and is very quiet and a bit shy. But he's a sweet kid.

Matthias Jr. (5)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) True to his name, he's a lot like his father in looks and manner. He likes animals, preferably canines. He's a calm child.

Maverick (1)

CD) light green eyes, brown hair

CP) Maverick is a sweetheart. A super cute little toddler with a lot of energy that no one in his family is sure who he inherited it from. Gets into _everything_.

* * *

 **3.)** Matthew (27)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) Matthew is just an all-around nice guy. You'll tend to find him in his workshop working on a car or with his family. He's nervous about his coming child.

MT) he isn't the biggest fan of using magic, and his talent is pretty limited to mechanics (keyword: mechanics. not technology…)

 **A.)** Sarah (W) (Isa's older sister) (24)

CD) dark brown eyes, dark brown hair

CP) Honestly, she's a lot like Isa. They are sisters and are very close. The biggest difference in their personalities is that Sarah's a little more overbearing and loves dressing people up.

MT) fashion magics-likes combining magic with clothes and makeup and the like

 **B.)** Heavily pregnant. Gender unknown.

* * *

 **4.)** Inan (24)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) He tends to be a bit vague in his wording of things...but he's a nice guy, if not a bit abstract...

MT) seer, best with things like divination methods

 **A.)** Ria (W) (23)

CD) very light brown eyes, stick-straight light blond hair

CP) Ria likes making things cute, and is good at decorating things. She likes cake decorating and such specifically, and tends to be the designated decorator the the family.

MT) normal magic, best with cutesy charms and the like

 **B.)** Daren (2)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) Daren has a speech problem, badly stutters and takes a while to say things. But a sweeter kid you'll ne'er find.

* * *

 **5.)** Wade (22)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) He's very "let's do it!" and he plays ladylz for the national Suron team, the Dragons (Suron is a kingdom right to the south of Geolune (Gedonelune, as I've been spelling it wrong the entire story and it's a little too late to change it now…). Wade also went to school there, and that's how he got scouted for the Dragons), and also enters in broomstick races all the time in lots of different places in Myula, hence the reason we won't see him as much as the rest of the brothers.

MT) sporty magics-ladlyz player, is also a broomstick racer

 **A.)** Galena (G) (22)

CD) left eye pale green/right eye pale blue, dark purple hair (it's dyed)

CP) Galena loves Ladlyz and broomstick races, but doesn't compete competitively. She does it recreationally and travels around with her boyfriend as moral support.

MT) also sporty magics, but doesn't play professionally

* * *

 **6.)** Eric (20) (G)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair

CP) The largest of all Selene's brothers at a shocking 6'5". He's pretty gruff and quiet, but his heart is in the right place and he's very dependable-always there when you need him, no questions asked.

MT) transportation magics

 **A.)** Felicia (21)

CD) left eye light blue/right eye dark blue, curly black hair

CP) Felicia is very, very introverted, and very very shy. It's rare to hear her speak, but she's very smart. Selene swears that Eric and Felicia are able to communicate telepathically, because they don't need to say a word most times to be able to communicate. (this may or may not be true...)

MT) very talented at healing

* * *

 **7.)** Merlin (17)

CD) brown eyes, brown hair-his brothers all say he looks exactly like their father to the point it's almost scary.

CP) A bit erratic. Tends to withdraw into his thoughts, thinking of his inventions and works in progress. He's pretty much one of those obsessive genius types who'll get so absorbed in their work they'd be there forever unless someone intervenes. He'll often talk to himself, saying things that only make sense to him, and get really, really focused on his work at times like these. Only, he'll actually make sure he takes decent care of himself otherwise he risks the wrath of Selene, which he prefers not to do.

MT) technological magic—a unique combination of magical tool creation and Terran technology

* * *

And there y'all go! That is Selene's family! It took me a while to put this all together (meaning I had to search through old chapters-resisting the urge to rewrite them-and make sure there were as few conflictions as possible), but I think it was totally worth it...and that nagging urge to figure this all out is gone now, thank goodness...


	3. Future Familes Guide

OCs:

(Elias x) **Katalina Sommer** =pure-animal tamer (age 15)

Magic Specialty: animal magic

Character Description: milk-chocolate brown eyes-medium brown hair-mildly tanned colored skin-a little thinner than she should be, but then again she's had to provide for herself.

(Yukiya x) **Philyra Fonix** =lover of music (no surname-takes on Selene's when Selene pretty much adopts her) (age 14)

Magic Specialty: spellsinging, hiding magic (mainly because it can be hard for most people to notice her most of the time anyway)

Character Description: left eye is sea green with bright blue flecks, right eye is a stormy grey-mousy brown hair that tends to cover her eyes-pale skin-smaller than Yukiya by a head-too thin from malnutrition.

(Luca x) **Marelda Kramer** =renowned warrior-shopkeeper (age 16)

Magic Specialty: binding magic to weapons, strength/speed/other fighting spells

Character Description: dark violet eyes (not like the Goldsteins eyes, which are lighter violet)-fiery red hair-tanned skin (from training outside so much)-same exact height as Luca-toned body ((okay, I'll easily admit that she's a lot like a Tamora Pierce's (my absolute favorite author of all time and my hero) main character, Alanna, from her Song of the Lioness Quartet (except for Alanna is really short unlike Marelda), but then again Luca is a lot like Alanna's eventual husband, George, in some ways))

(Serge x) **Zelia March** =sunshine-boundary (age 17)

Magic Specialty: time, space (like transporting and such), divining the future/past

Character Description: Dark blue eyes (that always have a glimmer of either curiosity or mischief)-hair that is the same color as her eyes (I mean, Serge has cotton candy pink hair, so why not? Only Zelia's is dyed)-semi-tanned skin-a few inches shorter than Serge (so she's taller than Selene)-is extremely hyper and cooks a lot so she can eat more (like Selene, she eats waaaaay more than normal, but it's expectable because of how hyper she gets, like Serge)

* * *

Future Families:...

Elaine (23-37)/Percival (24-38): (1)

 **Evelynne** (14)

Description: Blue Eyes, Pale Blonde Hair, Very Fair Skin

Personality: A mild, sweet tempered young lady. She's quite similar to her mother.

Magical Specialty: Mild healing talent, not very much though, so she tends to not really use her magic.

* * *

Marelda (15-30)/Luca (17-32): (1 5/6)

 **Laurel** (7)

Description: Emerald Green Eyes, Fiery Red Hair, Tanned Skin

Personality: Much like her mother, she's kind of surly. She'd rather learn to fight than be a lady, though she does like painting and drawing, the one thing she most obviously shares with her father besides hair colour.

Magical Specialty: Unorthodox Fighting Magic

 **Brielle**

Note: She's Not Born Yet, due in a little over a month.

* * *

Katalina (15-29)/Elias (15-29): (2 1/2)

 **Willow** (8)

Description: Amethyst Purple Eyes, Chocolate Brown Hair

Personality: She's a lot like her father—blunt, tactless, but her comments tend to be correct. She loves reading and is a good student—also is a big fan of animals, though she can't speak to them.

Magical Specialty: Diagnostic magic—can tell what's wrong with a person, animal, or other, no matter what. She'll know how to fix it even if she's unable to perform the magic or such to do so.

 **Leon** (4)

Description: Chocolate Brown Eyes, Blond Hair

Personality: He's like his mother, and a really sweet little kid. He's not all that talkative though, at least with humans. He likes talking to animals.

Magical Specialty: Animal/Tamer magics

 **Nyra/Ezra**

Note: Not Born Yet, not due for about six months.

* * *

Zelia (16-31)/Serge (20-34): (3)

 **Randy** (11) (Kai's identical twin and Lilith's fraternal triplet—oldest)

Description: Bright Blue Eyes, Brown Hair with a Pinkish/Blueish Undertones

Personality: Very thoughtful, loves reading novels, nice kid, enjoys trying to figure out paradoxes (for some reason no one knows…). He likes to laugh and smile.

Magical Specialty: Very good with summoning magics

 **Kai** (11) (Randy's identical twin and Lilith's fraternal triplet—second oldest)

Description: Bright Blue Eyes, Brown Hair with a Pinkish/Blueish Undertones

Personality: Kai is the most hyperactive child you'll ever meet. I swear, he has more energy than Serge, Selene, and Zelia _combined_ _times 5_. He loves experimenting with his father.

Magical Specialty: Not entirely sure…tends to make things explode most of the time because he always puts too much energy into things…

 **Lillith** (11) (Randy and Kai's fraternal triplet-youngest)

Description: Pinkish eyes, Blue Hair

Personality: The complete flipside of her brother. Calmest, most level-headed kid you'll ever meet. Thinks everything through and plans things out. She's really the only one that can handle completely her brother (Kai).

Magical Specialty: Time magics

(Note: Randy and Kai are identical twins, while Lilith is their fraternal triplet)

* * *

Philyra (15-28)/Yukiya (15-29): (5) (This family is pretty quiet to be honest…)

 **Selene** (8) (Celeste's twin sister)

Description: Stormy Grey Eyes, Dark Blonde Hair (no one knows how that happened…)

Personality: Very quiet and thoughtful, withdrawn a bit.

Magical Specialty: Spellsinging

 **Celeste** (8) (Selene's twin sister)

Description: Right Eye is Sea Green with Bright Blue Flecks, Left Eye is a Stormy Grey, Raven's Wing Black Hair

Personality: A loud, happy child

Magical Specialty: Can talk to animals

 **Melody** (7)

Description: Pretty Sea-Green Eyes, Raven's Wing Black Hair

Personality: Very quiet and thoughtful, withdrawn a bit.

Magical Specialty: Spellsinging

 **Temperance** (4)

Description: Brown Eyes, Pretty Pale Brown Hair

Personality: Very quiet and thoughtful, withdrawn a bit.

Magical Specialty: Hiding/Camouflage magics

 **Yukiya Jr**. (1)

Description: Looks just like his father…Brown Eyes, Raven's Wing Black Hair

Personality: Super spoiled (in a good way) because all of his sister's dote on him. Cutest smile ever, though!

Magical Specialty: Unknown—a bit too young

* * *

Selene (17-32)/Klaus (20-34): (9)

 **Aurora** (12)

Description: Eyes are Brown with Gold Flecks, Imperial Blonde

Personality: Imagine Selene's positive attitude and silver tongue combined with Klaus' smarts and magical abilities (as well as Selene's abilities with wind and song, but better).

Magical Specialty: Wind magics, Arias

 **Klaus Jr.** (aka Kay) (11)

Description: Silvery Eyes, Imperial Blond

Personality: He's very much like his mother...

Magical Specialty: Technology magics.

 **Seraphina** (10)

Description: Eyes shift colors like fire, Imperial Blonde

Personality: She's very motherly, takes care of her younger (and older…) siblings like a little mother.

Magical Specialty: No magical abilities. Loves teaching and kids though. Good with abstract magical theories.

 **Raye** (9)

Description: Violet Eyes, Imperial Blonde

Personality: She sure takes after her father...

Magical Specialty: Medical Magics

 **Johnathan** (8) (Elias' Twin)

Description: Silvery Eyes, Imperial Blond

Personality: Happy child, likes to follow his younger twin brother around. Quiter.

Magical Specialty: Good with all around magics.

 **Elias** (8) (Johnathan's Twin)

Description: Violet Eyes, Imperial Blond

Personality: Very outdoorsy, likes nature.

Magical Specialty: Interested in magical creatures, average magical abilities

 **Jayce** (6)

Description: Brown Eyes, Imperial Blond

Personality: Enjoys swimming, pretty go-with-the-flow

Magical Specialty: Water magics (Ironically. No one knows how this happened…)

 **Zeeke** (5)

Description: Golden Eyes, Imperial Blond

Personality: Zeeke has some minor anger issues, but they aren't sure whether it's because he's little still, or what. He's a bit temperamental.

Magical Specialty: Making things go boom. Magical power hasn't stabilized yet.

 **Rosa** (3)

Description: Left Eye is Light Violet, Right Eye is Dark Violet, Imperial Blonde

Personality: She's a big ball of hyper fun.

Magical Specialty: Magical abilities unknown.


	4. Chapter 7-point-5

Okay, this is a flashback chapter Enjoy. Just an FYI: Selene is thirteen in this one, and the season is summer.

* * *

Chapter 7.5—Force of Nature (2015)

Selene was excited. Cliche start, right? But she was—it was a club night. No, it wasn't a typical club, and she wasn't actually going to be a customer, but a performer. Jack, the older brother of her youngest sister in law, owned a club. Not a normal club—no alcohol whatsoever, and there was a dress code to uphold basic modesty. To be honest, it doubled as diner during the day, but as soon as it hit dusk, the tables and chairs were moved to the sides or the back room, the floor was cleaned and readied—and it was opened as a dancing club. The fee was low, and there was usually live music.

Selene had come here often—mostly during the summer—and even had sung once or twice at an open mic night. She loved it, and always had fun dancing. But tonight was different—she wasn't here just to dance. She was filling in for the usual friday night singer, who was sick—it was last minute when Jack asked her to sub. Pleased at the request, her acceptance was immediate. All she had to do really was sing covers of requested songs and dance around—she was even allowed to sing whatever she liked if there were no more requests.

Currently, she was spinning around the empty dance floor—they opened in a few minutes. Mavin, Jack's youngest brother, age fifteen, came out from the kitchen with two plates of food and two glasses of water on a tray. He set them on a table and waved over Selene, who was eagerly eyeing the food. Mavin was one of her good friends—her sister in law and her sister in law's family was one of the few wizard families who lived in Terra, having moved when Jack was still in the womb—despite being two years older. He was also a regular performer at the Club Diner, the name of this place.

They sat down and began eating their pre-show dinner. "Nervous, Lena?" Mavin said through a mouth full of food.

"Don't speak with your mouth full." She responded.

He swallowed, "Yes mother."

"Thank you." She nodded approvingly, "And no, not really. I'm just excited—the nervousness won't set in until after it's over."

"You're strange."

" _Tell me tell me tell me somthin' I don't know somthin' I don't know somethin' I don't know!_ " She sang, making him laugh.

They continued joking around until they finished eating, "I'll take the plates back to the kitchen if you open up the doors." Mavin said. Selene nodded and ran off.

Unlocking the doors and flipping the sign to " _open_ ", she used the door stoppers to prop open the doors. She shivered a bit in the cool breeze that flowed in. Most people would be wishing it was this temp inside later. It could get pretty hot in the Club Diner when it was in club mode. She ran back to the large room and hopped onto the slightly risen (by about six inches) stage. She found the plus for the microphone and plugged it in. She tested it with a few notes and stretched. People were already starting to filter in—mainly teens. This was a popular teenage hangout, especially on weekends. Mavin came back out of the kitchen and over to the stage. In a mere few minutes, they would begin. They'd start off with whatever they felt like, probably calmer songs. Selene had already claimed the first song—she really wanted to sing one of her favorites.

Jack came out and sat behind the computer station, where he handled getting the music for the requested songs. "Ready?" He called to his brother and Selene. They nodded. Once everything was started up, Mavin took the microphone.

"Hey everybody, the usual singer is sick, so Selene and I will be taking over tonight. Let's have fun!" There was already a decent crowd, and they cheered.

He handed the microphone to Selene and she took it—grinning as wide as the Cheshire cat, at least that's what it felt like to her. "Hey y'all! I'm going to start off with something slower, but fun all the same." She put the microphone into it's holder and pulled up the stool she had set up, before grabbing the guitar, tuning it quickly, and sitting down. "This is a cover of Bea Miller's _Force of Nature_."

She started the beginning chords and opened her mouth to sing.

" _I don't know why but my hands are shaking_

 _I can see you coming and I stand here waiting_

 _Yeah I get tongue tied in the conversation_

 _It's a messed up, bad, sick situation_

 _I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows_

 _Oh but it's too late now_

 _I let you get too close_

 _I know I should take cover, hide inside these four walls_

 _But baby I surrender, it all_

 _'Cause you're a force of nature_

 _Look at what you've done_

 _I can taste the danger but I don't wanna run_

 _So pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight_

 _I'm a caution taker, but baby you're a force of nature_

 _Baby you're a force of nature_

 _I feel your lips move in and they take me under_

 _You know just what to do, how to make me want you_

 _And I know I'll be broken when it's over_

 _Oh but I can't help but pull you closer_

 _I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows_

 _Oh but it's too late now_

 _I let you get too close_

 _'Cause you're a force of nature_

 _Look at what you've done_

 _I can taste the danger but I don't wanna run_

 _So pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight_

 _I'm a caution taker, but baby you're a force of nature_

 _Baby you're a force of nature_

 _I'll be here 'till we collide_

 _I don't care if I survive_

 _So crash into me one more time_

 _Yeah, yeah, oh_

 _'Cause you're a force of nature_

 _Look at what you've done_

 _I can taste the danger but I don't wanna run_

 _So pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight_

 _I'm a caution taker, but baby you're a force of nature_

 _Baby you're a force of nature_

 _Baby you're a force of nature_

 _Baby you're a force of nature"_

The crowd clapped along and danced. This sub singer was _good_. She smiled and put the guitar down, and started another, albeit faster, song. The dancers liked her, and she was having fun. Don't you wish that life could always be this awesome?


	5. Halloween 2015

Background: This takes place at some unknown time in the fanfic, but is after a long time, and Selene is dating Klaus. Selene _loves_ Halloween, as it is literally her second favorite holiday (after April Fools' day, where she can prank as many people as she likes without getting in trouble). The headmaster announced that because it was in the spirit of the holiday (and because it was a Saturday), costumes were allowed to be worn around campus the entire week of Halloween. Selene was super excited and wouldn't tell _anyone_ what her costume was going to be for the actual day of, and she had a clever new costume each day for the school week leading up it, as All Hallows Eve was on a Saturday. {{Note, all six of the boys from Wizardess are the same thing they were in the recent spin-off for this holiday. To see the costumes, look up the pictures, I recommend nerdmemoir—also, Zave is a pirate and Amelia is the Myulan version of Bloody Mary (who knows why but she wanted to be Bloody Mary...)}} There will be snippets from each day of the best reaction to Selene's costumes, along with a special ending on the night of Halloween! Enjoy...mwahahaha! Also, this will be in third person.

* * *

Halloween Special 2015

Monday: Ceiling Fan

This was an easy costume. But it was also a fun one. All you had to do was put some tape on a shirt and carry around pom-poms. Selene walked into her first class to see Luca bothering Elias, and Yukiya sitting in his desk staring out the window, as per usual. Luca was the first to notice.

"Pfft…" He tried to stop himself from laughing, "And just what are you supposed to be…?"

"A Ceiling Fan." Selene grinned goofily, raising her pom poms, "Go Ceiling Go! Whoohoo!" she shook her pom poms and did a little cheerleader like dance. "I am the ceiling's #1 fan!"

Luca stopped trying to contain his laughter, and started laughing so hard he began to cry. Elias was hiding his snickers behind his hand, and even Yukiya had one of those smiles where your lips are pursed together as a way to prevent from outright laughter.

"Only you, Selene, only you." Luca sighed, trying to quell his giggles.

Tuesday: Breadwinner

This time, it took three things—dressing up like a mother who was in the kitchen baking, a medal, and a loaf of bread.

Zave stood outside the girls dorm waiting for Selene—he'd promised to help her test her latest burn-proofing charm (she was always trying to come up with better fire-proof charms to help people). When she walked out, outfit covered in flour and holding a loaf of stale bread, wearing a metal, Zave just raised an eyebrow, "What is it today?"

"A breadwinner." She replied instantly. "Tomorrow's is more fun."

Wednesday—only two things needed for this one.

Zave laughed, "Let me guess, a dust bunny?"

She smiled, "How'd you guess? Was it the ears or the duster?"

Thursday—Ginger Bread Woman

Randy cocked his head as he looked at Selene in confusion. She was wearing a red (really, redheads are actually orange heads…) wig and had bread slices hanging from a string around her neck. From the biggest bread piece in the center hung a sign that said "Woman". Randy gasped, "I get it! You're a gingerbread woman! That's really clever! What are you going to be on Saturday?" He had been pestering her about it since the previous Sunday, and had been trying to get her to spill.

Selene laughed, "But telling you now would make it less of a surprise, and I can't trust that Klaus won't get you to tell him. He's been just as annoying about it, though far less obvious. I refuse to tell. Everyone will just have to figure it out!"

He pouted, "Aww…" Something hit his face and fell to the ground. He picked it up and saw it was a small candybar.

"Stop pouting, Tamaki. The pout doesn't work on me."

Friday—Identity Thief

All you have to do is stick a bunch of filled out name tags to your shirt and you are good to go!

Amelia looked at her roommate. Then she laughed, "You've worn the cleverest costumes this week. You really love this holiday, don't you?"

"Too much. I can't wait for tomorrow though, my costume will be so amazing that no one will be able to tell it's me! I can't even tell one person—well, there is one person I've informed, but that person had to help me with the costume, and this person won't tell because if they do, they will regret it."

"You won't even tell me if this person is a boy or girl, will you?" She shook her head, but she was smiling, "You'll tell me at some point if I can't manage to figure it out, won't you? By the Halloween party, at least, right?"

Selene grinned like a striped purple cat, "Alright then, I'll tell you by the party."

"You sound so confident that I won't figure it out." Amelia raised an eyebrow, one side of her mouth curling upward."

"Only because I'm so confident in my costume. The only thing left to get is something Blayze will be dropping off soon, and it's a small but crucial detail. They're something that aren't found in Myula, a Terran thing. Plus, I'm barely a B cup, so it won't be that hard to hide." Selene made sure that her phone alarm was set to get her up extra early. If this was going to work, she couldn't be seen until she was far away from the dorms.

Saturday—Halloween

Elias was sitting in a courtyard, in full uniform. As usual, he appeared to be studying. But it was far too early to be out and about. In reality, he was just waiting for the time when students would be around campus, socializing and mingling. It was Halloween, after all, and there were no classes today. And until tonight, when the school Halloween dinner then party was, the students were free to do as they wished.

Then, the real Elias Goldstein, dressed in an egyptian pharaoh-mummy costume (Selene made him dress up), took a double take when he saw himself sitting on a bench reading a book. He walked up to the doppleganger and looked at himself, raising an eyebrow. The one reading looked up at him, "Oh hi Elias," said a feminine voice.

"It's creepy to hear your voice coming from my mouth, Selene." Elias looked awkward, "Remind me again why you decided to dress up as me for Halloween, again? And how did you get it this accurate."

She smiled, looking like Selene for a second before she composed herself, the classic serious face of Elias reappearing. "To be perfectly honest, I just want to mess with Klaus, well, for the most part. I'll give you a list: One, I wanted to mess with my buddy, your brother. Two, I wanted to see if I could pull something like this off—seriously, I've been thinking of coming to school one day dressed as a guy, just to see if people could figure it out. Three, one of my sisters likes to experiment with combining cosmetics and magic, along with using magic to make the person look exactly like another person. She's got it developed to the point where if I can act almost exactly like the person, I'll keep looking like the person. My voice doesn't count. She hasn't found a way to make that a part of it yet, but I'm good enough at vocal manipulation to be able to sound exactly like you."—She then switched her voice from her own to a sound-alike of Elias'.—"I'm also wearing a wig and colored contacts. Normally, Klaus would be able to sense the magic in the wig, which it's what makes my face the way it is, but since I convinced you to lend me one of your uniforms, it's infused with enough of your essence to cover that up, since it's faint. That's really the reason it had to be one of _your_ uniforms, not just a random male uniform. Plus, we're the same height!"

"You've really thought this out, haven't you. Well, as long as you don't do anything weird, I won't tell anybody it's you." Elias was used to the strangeness of this particular friend.

"Well, I do have one hitch in my plans. My wand. Klaus will be able to tell it's mine from my energy radiating from it." Selene pulled out her unique wand, completely silver in color, with constantly shifting golden veins visible. "I came up with a solution though. Do you have your wand?"

"If you're asking to trade wands, then the answer will be no. You can't use normal wands, and your wand can't be used by anyone else." Elias deadpanned.

Selene shook her head, "No, I wasn't going to suggest that. I just need you to cast a temporary camouflage spell to make it appear to be your wand. Therefore, as long as I'm not in the position where I have to use water or ice magic, I'll be golden."

Elias shook his head, "How much time where you should have been studying did you waste on thinking this through?"

"I'm only you in image Elias, I don't need to be top of the class—I'm not becoming that authentic for only a day." She chuckled, sounding scarily like the person she appeared to be.

"I think I'm going to go now. One, because people can't see us together otherwise all your wasted time will be even more wasted. Two, because this whole thing is creeping me out. Good luck, Selene." ' _You'll need it.'_ He thought, leaving the courtyard, ' _Then again, Selene seems to be made of luck. Good or bad, which will appear today?_ '

…. …. …. —Almost Dinner.

No one had figured out that there were two different Elias'. There were a few people who had noticed that they'd see Elias in uniform one minutes, and then a few minutes later they'd see Elias in a costume. The only one who was remotely suspicious was, in fact, Prefect Goldstein.

He had been trying to find his buddy all day, and now Klaus was at a loss. Whenever he would faintly sense her magic, it was almost like a residue, very weak, like he had just missed her. But something even stranger kept happening. Whenever he felt the residue, Elias had been there in his uniform. Yet he also kept seeing Elias in the costume Selene had gotten for him, yet without the magic residue. He was suspicious, and both uniformed Elias and the residue were there. He approached his brother.

"Hello Elias. Do you know where I might find that buddy of mine?"

Elias jumped, not having heard him come up. This was normal, Elias often got very absorbed in whatever he was reading, and it looks like Selene had lent him another Terran novel. Elias had been reading those often since Selene had started teaching him English.

"Oh, brother. No, I haven't seen her all day."—He shrugged slightly.—"I've been curious to see what her costume was though. She seemed very excited about it. She promised that if no one figured it out, she'd reveal herself by dinner. Therefore, I've kept an eye out—haven't seen her though."

"Oh," Klaus said, "here's a question about you then. How come you've been changing from your costume to your uniform and back all day? It isn't like you to be so fickle, brother." Elias grew visibly nervous, and was nearly squirming in his seat.

"Alright!" He blurted, "I have seen Selene several times. She keeps making me change into that costume, but it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I keep changing back to my uniform! I won't tell you what she's dressed up as though, because she's sworn me to secrecy! Who _knows_ what she'll do if I break my word!"

That actually made a lot of sense to Klaus. If Elias kept running into Selene, who was making him keep changing back into his costume, it's possible that she was using magic with her costume, and so it was rubbing off on his brother. But if that was the case, why did he sense her magic when Elias was in his uniform instead of his costume? That part made no sense.

"Well, I must be off. I promised to help Yukiya with something." That was clearly an excuse. As Elias tried to scurry off, Klaus grabbed his arm, making him jump.

"Let me know the next time you see her. I have something to tell her."

Elias bit his lip, something unusual for him. "Why don't I just take a message? She said that I wasn't even allowed to tell people that I had seen her, so I've already risked a lot. I think she'll understand as long as I don't tell you anything more."

"Fine then." Klaus stated, "Tell her I need to _talk_ to her about something. She's in trouble, but you won't tell her that bit, will you, dear brother?"

Elias looked nervous, "What did she do, though?"

"Oh," he responded simple, "She knows very well what she did wrong."

Elias hurried off. Klaus noticed something on the bench. Elias had left his book—something very, very unlike him. Even more, the title was _Between The Lines_ by Jodi Picoult. Hadn't Selene been reading that the day before? Something clicked. The lightbulb flickered.*

…. …. …. —At dinner.

So, at dinner, Selene revealed herself to several people—well, everyone but Klaus, really. He had to sit up with the headmaster and the professors, along with Randy (the other prefect). On the other side of the room. All of Selene's friends, Amelia, Yukiya, Luca, Zave, Isa, and Alex all loved it (in their own way, as Yukiya just smiled and quietly said it was well-done) and complimented her on it. Elias just turned a bit red and didn't say all that much. Until he started bickering with Luca, as per usual. Selene was just downright pleased with herself. During dinner she used her real voice, but kept to the expressions Elias often used, so her costume would stay in place. Elias kept on whisper-yelling at her to stop, as hearing her voice coming from him just was plain weird and strange. She kept doing her normal voice just to tease him.

…. …. …. —Near the end of the Party!

The vampiric Klaus stood there looking at his brother. Both of his brother. There were two Elias'. The one in uniform had dragged the one in costume over. "I'm having fun with this, but I guess it's time to tell you. I can't believe you didn't figure it out, Klaus!" The uniformed one smirked and spoke in Selene's voice.

"Can I go now?" The real Elias deadpanned, "And just to let you know, brother, this was all her. I only said that if she didn't do anything weird, I wouldn't expose her."

"Yea, yea, run away, wimpy Eli. Big sis Selene can handle this." She ruffled his hair and waved him off before turning back to Klaus. "The costume is pretty awesome, isn't it? My sister helped me, and it turned out really well." She then explained everything she had explained about her costume to Elias that morning. Klaus just stared at her, face void of emotion as she jabbered happily away.

' _This is weird. She looks exactly like Elias yet sounds like herself. I don't like hearing her voice come out of my brother's mouth. I'm going to fix this._ ' Was the thought running through Klaus' head.

"And I like your costume as well. It's pretty authentic, at least traditional vampire. I mean, I've met modern ones, and most are quite like us. Are your teeth enchanted to look like that? Is it a cover spell, or a transformation?"

"How are you going to undo this magic that caused you to look like this?" Klaus asked.

"Oh, that's easy," she laughed, " I just have to take off the wig."

Klaus grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room. She asked what in heck he was doing, but he didn't answer her. He pulled her all the way to his office on the other side of the school, going inside and locking the door. By the moonlight coming in through the window, he flicked his wand and the wig she wore blew off her head, dispersing the magic and revealing her hair, pinned up neatly with at least a hundred bobby pins. Another flick of the wand and they all clattered to the floor, her hair falling down to her shoulders.

"Hey!" she cried, "Do you realize just how long it took me this morning to get all of those in! And I won't be able to get back in costume without the wig!" Klaus merely flicked his wand again and Elias' uniform was replaced with a shimmering black gown (the uniform itself was now back in Elias' room on his bed, clean), her hair curled into big, wavy curls, dark glittery makeup appeared around her eyes, and her shoes became black flats (he would of prefered heels, as she was so short compared to him, but he'd rather not deal with the complaining). Small, glittery red gems appeared on her ears, and a matching pendant now hung upon her neck, resting on the indent at the base of her neck.

"There. You have a new costume." She looked down at herself and then looked back at him, eyebrow raised.

"And what am I supposed to be?"

"The vampire's victim." He moved closer her her, wicked grin on his face as she backed up, soon hitting the edge of his desk. He put his hands on the desk, one on either side of her hips.

"Umm...do you...need something? Or are you just being a creep and trying to make me uncomfortable?" Selene said warily, face slowly turning a deep blood-crimson at her lover's proximity.

"You're my victim. As I'm a vampire, you should know exactly what I want…" His deep voice whispered in her ear, breath warm, causing her to shivered slightly.

"Y-yup. Just b-being cr-creepy."

Klaus silenced her by taking her lips. One of his hands moved to tangle itself in her hair, the other arm wrapping around her waist.

He only released her when she began trembling from lack of air. He moved downward, making her gasp and squirm slightly in embarrassment. "K-Klaus!" she yelped as he bit down. "Ow!"

He moved his lips up to her ear again, "There," he whispered, nibbling on the edge of her ear, "your costume is complete."

Let's just say that the fang marks on her neck that everyone thought was makeup at the party didn't, well, disappear for a few days.


	6. Midwinter 2015

Note: Instead of Christmas, which is a Christian holiday (which is something that is Terran-only, to be honest), the holiday in Myula is Midwinter.

And Mr. Goldstein, as you may notice, isn't the biggest supporter of Klaus's relationship with that rude, unladylike heathen child (or, in other words, Selene). Oh, and anyone who's read Klaus' route knows who Miss Elaine is.

* * *

Midwinter Special (2015)

It was almost time. Selene woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve _Midwinter's Eve_ feeling as if it was Christmas _Midwinter_ morning. Gotta remember that. It was her first Chri—Midwinter away from home. Yes, for the first time, she was at her own lover's house (something her brother's had been doing more and more as they grew older) for the holiday's. Soon before last holidays, there was an _incident_ and she pretty much needed to stay home (for reason's you'll all eventually know). This was the same "smaller" room she stayed in on her last few visits to the Goldstein estates. In truth, it was bigger than her room in Terra. At least twice as big. Not that she minded having a small room back home—it was nice, cozy, and _always_ warm. Unlike this one, with its cold stone floors and big windows that let in cold (even through the thick drapes). It was bearable in the summer, but summer was long gone.

"Drat. Now I can't get up until someone comes and lights a fire."

' _ **We could always light one ourselves, you know.**_ ' Celeste spoke up (you'll learn about her later, but for now all you need to know is that she and Selene are pretty much the same person, but different at the same time. It'll all make sense by the end of the arc after the Love Triangle arc. Promise).

"True. But that'd mean getting out from the covers. And having to use wandless magic—Kaus took the wand yesterday as ransom for today's events, remember. It takes so long to get silk sheets to warm up…dang rich family and their fancy sheets. Would some nice, _warm_ , cotton be too much to ask for?"

' _ **Knowing Klaus' father, he'd leave them as silk, just to spite us. Better not complain.**_ '

"You're worse than Jiminy Cricket sometimes, you know that, right? I'm not Pinocchio, thank you."

' _ **But I'm also you. Don't forget about that.**_ '

"Ugh...no paradoxes when it's below 50 degrees fahrenheit, you here?"

A maid walked in, one who must have been newer, because Selene had made it a point to learn at least the names of the Goldstein staff. This one looked a bit confused, "Miss, who are you talking to? I'll be your maid for the duration of your stay."

Selene waved it away, "My inner elemental self. Don't worry—it's entirely normal. Now, could you maybe start a fire? It's positively frigid and I'm going to become a human ice-block if I move out from these covers. And that would be bad. I swear, my nose is already ice..."

She giggled a little bit. "Master Klaus mentioned to the staff last night that you had problems with the cold. He said for me to take this to you when you woke up." Selene noticed for the first time that the maid carried a large, furry, coat that would go down to Selene's ankles and up to her ears. One of her brother's must have sent Blayze with her favorite winter coat, the one that had been spelled by Klaus last year around this time—it'd keep her warm no matter how cold it was.

"Yes yes yes!" She exclaimed, "I'd love him for this alone! Give me give me!"

"Shouldn't you get dressed first, miss?"

"Nope." She said, pulling her arms out from beneath the blanket, reaching for the coat, "Mrs. Goldstein and Elaine have decided to spend most of today getting ready for tonight. Which also means them wanting to get me ready. Elaine said I could come in my pajamas if I wanted to." Said pajamas were a pair of thick, woolen fuzzy socks, thick fuzzy pants, and a long-sleeved flannel shirt. "So I'm going to gladly take her up on that offer. By the way, what's your name? And where's Miss Martha?" She crawled out of the covers, soon starting to shiver as the cold of the stone floor began to sink into the bottoms of her feet through her socks.

"Miss Martha's on vacation, visiting her family. Most of the usual staff are. I'm Abigail."

"Well, Abigail, it's wonderful to meet you. Are you not going to go visit your family?"

"My family all works at one of the Goldstein's vacation houses. We get called into the main house around Holidays so the usual staff here can have a break. Here." She hold the coat open and Selene gratefully shrugs into it, wrapping it around herself tightly, her shivering slowly disappearing as the coat's magic begins to activate.

Selene humms, feeling better. "Now. Where did those slippers go?"

Abigail is right there, and sets the shoes by Selene's feet. Selene grins at her and slips them on, "Thank you. You're the best."

"You flatter me, miss." Selene had long since stopped trying to correct the staff calling her "miss" it was apparently "an uphill battle in a snowstorm" according to Celeste. Celeste tended to speak only when they were by themselves or with Klaus (he, for some reason, found it ridiculously funny to listen to Selene and Celeste talk to themselves.).

Abigail began to lead Selene to where she'd be having breakfast with Mrs. Goldstein and Elaine (as they all were).

Selene still didn't really know her way around this manor very well—it was absolutely enormous, after all, and it wasn't like she was there all the time. Of anyone, though, Elias probably knew it the best of anyone—he had often wandered to find a place where his reading or studying wouldn't be interrupted. He was Selene's unofficial map when she wanted to go exploring (she would drag him along as he complained that he needed to study and her saying "get over it you study enough as it is"). Only Elias was actually at Katalina's (his own buddy/**********) home for this holiday (he wasn't quite ready to introduce her to his parent's, especially with the way his father reacted to Selene. Yukiya and Philyra (flil-yii-rah) were with them. Luca and Marelda, on the other hand, were visiting Marelda's family. Selene had already sent (or will send )Blayze to deliver her presents for all of them to open on the morrow, along with the presents for her brothers and their families. They had all sent something back with Blayze, or had given their presents to her and Klaus before school was out, and there were two slowly growing piles in the corner of her room—she had Klaus' with her's because they were planning on opening them together the next day. Klaus had spent the first three days of Midwinter break at the academy, Klaus finishing up all the grading and prepping the itinerary for first week after break for his class ((yes, at this point in time Klaus has already graduated and is now a professor.)) Selene, on the other hand, finished in two days all of her prefect's work—she had sent Randy, her fellow prefect, and Zelia, his buddy, off to their vacation the first day—and spent that last day helping Klaus by doing the last of his packing (he had left her a detailed list of what was left) and her own, too. And making snacks for the five-hour train trip.

They reached a room and Abigail rapped lightly on a door, "I've brought Miss Selene, mi'lady."

"She may come in." That was Mrs. Goldstein. This was the ladies prep room, where they were going to eat breakfast before beginning all the fancy preparations for the event tonight. Selene was actually looking forward to it, which was unusual for her. She normally had to be forced after temper tantrums and after being caught (having run away and hidden). But, for once, she was actually willing to go through all of this "girly crap" as she not-so-fondly referred to this process as. Her sisters would be proud.

Selene walked into warm room. Mrs. Goldstein and Elaine laughed at the sight of this young woman all bundled up to cross the house. Elaine tugged on one of Selene's twin braids as she sat down. "You really don't like the cold, do you?" Selene and Klaus had gotten to the house only the previous day, and when they entered their coats and such were removed and taken (hence the reason Klaus had her coat returned to her).

"Nope. It's quite _literally_ my natural enemy. And, my room seems to retain no warmth…"

"Ah, are you in the same room that you were this summer?" Mrs. Goldstein inquired.

"Yep."

"That's one of the summer rooms, it's meant to be cooler. You should be in a winter room. I wonder why they took you to that room…anyhow, I'll have the servants move you to a winter room."

"I wonder if a certain future father-in-law of her's is responsible, hmm?" Elaine mused.

"Wait...what?" Selene coughed, choking on the warmed apple juice she had been sipping. "Just what are you implying…"

The two older woman shared a smug look.

"Nothing, nothing. I just assumed that you and Klaus would get married, eventually." Selene believed Elaine, because, after all, the two Goldstein woman often joked about her and Klaus getting married.

"If you say so…" she sighed.

They then had breakfast, Selene gladly eating three times as much as the other two (combined). The two didn't comment on this—they were used to it, unlike Mr. Goldstein, who often loudly remarked that a proper lady ate a lady's smaller portion, to which Selene would respond, "Well, I may be a two-species princess, but I'm no lady—it'd be far too boring.." and share a laughing look with Klaus, annoying his father to no end. And amusing everyone else.

After the meal (the nice, _warm_ , wonderful meal), the ladies set upon their next task—the final fittings of Selene's dress. She wasn't aloud to see it yet, and so they blindfolded her while they marked adjustments. After sending it off with a maid and letting Selene get redressed (she wasn't aloud to wear her pj's anymore, and so she wore a change of clothes another maid had brought from her room, a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt). Then, they moved on to "beauty treatments," or, in other words, _hours_ of spa-like things. Turns out, the two married, adult woman liked to do things like give each other mani-pedis and do each other's hair and makeup—and they were the equivalent of wealthy noblewoman.

The most surprising things was that Selene actively took part. She did the nailpolish of both older woman (Elaine's was pale pink, Mrs. Goldstein's was dark emerald-green, like her eyes), and brushed out their hair for them. Elaine painted Selene's nails, and the coloring gave Selene a hint of what her dress was to be—the base color was a silvery color, like Selene's normal eye coloring, and there was a layer of fine golden sparkles over the top. It was pretty, though Selene knew it'd be chipped by the next day.

—Going to skip on the rest of this because I don't want to focus on this all that much…—

It was time for the dinner. Before going, Selene had changed into a nice violet skirt with thick white winter leggings and a matching blouse under a creamy white sweater. There were also a pair of black fingerless gloves hidden (read: shoved) in the fancy (thankfully heelless) boots she was wearing. The entire outfit was one of the ones her sisters had given her last time she had visited home. Unlike the ball that would be taking place soon after, this dinner was only for the Goldstein family and their closest friends. Cynthia's family (you'll learn about her later too ;) wasn't there—they were visiting relatives in another part of the country—much to Selene's relief. The servants sat her at the opposite end of the table from Klaus, the second to last seat on that side of the table. At the head of the table was Mr. Goldstein, with his wife on his left and his eldest son on his right, and Elaine next to him. Klaus was on the other side of his mother. From then on down, on both sides, were people whom Selene knew none of, save for the face or two she somewhat recognized. The last seat on both sides of the table was empty, so on her right was a guy maybe a year or so older than Selene, with dark hair swept back dramatically, revealing a widow's peak. In fact, if it weren't from the semi-tanned skin, he'd look positively vampiric—and Selene would know, she had met several of them, and some of them were actually pretty nice (and no, they don't drink human blood unless they're one of the dangerous, often crazed, rogues). But he kept giving her glances out of the corner of his eye, and it gave Selene goosebumps. The girl across from her was silent and seemed as if she wanted to go hide.

Selene kept sneaking glances at her boyfriend at the opposite corner of the table, not really paying attention to the chatter of the people at the table—she didn't know them, so why should she care about the trivial things they were conversing about? He caught her eye and smirked his signature smirk. She grinned back, and then stuck out her tongue playfully, making him chuckle.

Soon after, a servant came in and announced that dinner would be ready within a few minutes. Selene was so happy at that, she sat up and sat on the edge of her chair. Klaus almost imperceptibly snickered at the sight of his girlfriend—food was her "favorite" as she always said. (Sometimes when he complained that she loved food more than him, she flicked some of whatever she was eating at him and asked just how jealous could he get, to get jealous of _food_. It had become an inside joke of there's.)

The guy next to Selene set his hand on her knee, and she slyly grabbed a tender part of it between two of her nails and moved it off with a flick of her wrist without looking down. The guys clearly got the message and scooted away from her a bit, rubbing his hand. She gave him one of her "touch-me-again-and-you'll-burn-in-a-fire-that-would-make-the-devil-weep-in-pain" looks (no one but the vampire-looking dude and Klaus noticed). Klaus then knew it was time to put his idea into action. Kissing his mother on the cheek and saying he'd see her later, he promptly got up and walked down the row and around the other end of the table, taking the empty seat next to Selene—not even caring about the murderous look his father gave him.

Selene's face lit up as her boyfriend pecked her on the cheek. " _Might I ask why you're here?_ " She switched over to english, as Klaus was the only other one here who knew it. " _Are you trying to annoy your father or something?_ "

" _Am I not aloud to sit next to my woman? If my woman isn't allowed to sit up with me up there, I must go sit with her here. It has nothing to do with my father, dearest._ " He smirked as she shivered.

" _How often must I tell you not to call me that? It's weird._ "

" _Would you prefer I call you shorty?_ "

" _Only if I may refer to you as His Rudeness_." She snorted, remembering her old nickname. " _You must admit, they bring up memories_."

" _They do. I remember the little girl in twin braids bouncing in the seat as we pulled up to the Academy. Well, I don't really have to remember her that hard, I saw her only yesterday, after all._ " he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him, " _At least I didn't need help getting little braids out of my hair._ "

" _You put them in, you get to take them out_."

" _You keep thinking that, bub, because I already know you couldn't do it without help._ "

He was about to respond when servants came in with platters of _warm_ food and Selene got distracted, so he ended up not saying anything, content to watch his lover be happy. The plates were set down. After Mr. Goldstein took a bite, everyone else began to eat, complimenting it. Selene, however, took a bite and turned a shade of green. She pretended to cough into her napkin, but was really spitting out the food. It was fish. Selene was unable to eat any sort of seafood—that was the food water types prefered. Fire types, like her, couldn't eat it at all. If she had any, it made her violently ill. Klaus noticed immediately and took a bite of his own food. " _I can't believe this—he knew it made you sick!_ " Klaus muttered, annoyed with his father.

Selene touched his arm, a gentle smile on her lips, " _Don't let it get to you—I'd bet he wants that reaction. Let's try to not make him like me less than he already does. If anything, I can have a maid bring me something before I get dressed._ " This was one of those rare times where it was Klaus who was being calmed down instead of Selene. Ever since her first wand broke, and Celeste had come into the picture, Selene had become better at managing her temper and powers, once she had figured out how to live in harmony with her elemental self. " _You can eat though. It wouldn't do for two of us to have to wait and eat, and it'll mean there's less food wasted—and you know my opinion on unnecessarily wasting food._ "

" _If you say so, dearest._ " And he proceeded to eat and talk to Selene. Somehow, his food managed to disappear off his plate faster than anyone else at the table without it looking anything but graceful. That was one skill Selene almost wished she had.

After dinner, the woman all left to go prepare themselves in their separate rooms (the dinner guests were spending the night at the Goldstein estate), and the three woman who had been together earlier went to the ladies prep room once again. Selene wore a shift-type garment as Mrs. Goldstein and Elaine were putting makeup all over her face—after she had a plate of food (that she scarfed down), of course. She wasn't quite sure what they were doing, but there was most definitely a lot silver glitter around her eyes and on her temples. As soon as they were done with her hair (which was up in a fancy twist held up with delicate golden butterfly hairclip with strands falling down here and there to make it look completely natural), they went off to go do their own makeup and get dressed. A maid came in with a dress in a dress-bag thing.

Clearly, this dress was to difficult for a person to put on oneself, and so the maid, named Nara, helped Selene get dressed. There was a corset, which Selene loathed, but since it was looser, she didn't really complain that much about it, more than a "Oh _great_. It's one of _those_ things…" The dress, though, made Selene gasp. It was gorgeous. It was a shimmery silver at the top, and at the waist down, golden swirls, like ink dripped into water, began, and pooled at the bottom hem. It was form-fitting (and looked quite wonderful one her, one might add) until the waist, where the skirt flowed out in an almost Victorian style. The sleeves were tight (as in just not loose) until the elbow, and fluttered out in a beautiful draping sleeve. The neckline went to just below her collarbone and was wide, almost seeming to hang, in a way, on the edges of her shoulders (but, as Selene requested, there was no danger of it falling down). Selene twirled around a bit, feeling like a nymph, in her bare feet. There were three-inch silver heels that went with the dress (which, for once, made her happy—she had grown an inch this past year, and with the help of the heels, she'd only be two and a half inches shorter than Klaus, at least for a little bit.

The two woman came back, fully dressed and ready. Elaine was wearing a lovely pale pink gown that made her eyes pop and enforced the image of a proper little princess. Mrs. Goldstein, however, looked like a queen in a deep emerald-green gown. Both dresses had beautiful golden embroidery.

"You both look wonderful…" Selene smiled, and had a short-lived feeling of insecurity at the sight of the two woman. She felt like a little girl playing dress-up compared to them.

"Have you seen yourself, dear? Come look." Mrs. Goldstein signaled the maid, who pulled aside a curtain that Selene had assumed conceal a window. In truth, there was a full-length mirror there. They waved a hand at her, encouraging her to go look.

When Selene stepped in front of it she gasped, "I know this is cliche...but...is this really...me?" The woman, yes, a woman, in the mirror seemed almost like an Actaea, a rare type of fairy said to almost be the equivalent of royalty—the beauty of these rare, elusive creatures was said to drive those who had managed to catch a glimpse of them go mad with trying to see it again, just once more. But even seeing a simple glimpse was nearly unheard of.

"It sure is. Mother and I were so excited to be able to do this—we want to see Klaus' face when he sees you first, though. It's bound to be the funniest face we've ever seen on him. Lovesick puppy is my guess." Elaine giggled.

"I think it'll be more like a country boy seeing the palace for the first time." Mrs. Goldstein smiled, "But we do have an ulterior motive for all of this. You'll figure it out later."

"I think I look less like myself than I did on Halloween…" Selene was transfixed on this image.

"Wait, what were you dressed up as?" Elaine asked.

"Elias." The two older woman burst into giggles. "It really worked, too! The only one who knew was Elias, because, just to be polite, I asked him first. Not even Klaus figured it out until the party when I pulled Elias over and told him. It was the best prank yet, and possibly ever. Until it was ruined and…" She flushed and changed the subject, "But this dress! It must have cost a small fortune! And that's not even counting the embroidery!" Selene exclaimed.

"Not really. Mother and I helped with the embroidery, and our seamstress was glad for the challenge. Usually, nothing more difficult than what the two of us are wearing is what she makes. And when she heard the reason…"

Mrs. Goldstein shushed her, "Don't ruin it! Come on now, let's get our shoes on and go. The announcements will be starting soon—and I'm first, as lady of the household."

"And I'm second since my husband is the heir. You're last out of spite. Father thought by that point everyone would be impatient and just want to get it over with—but now, it's just saving the best for last."

"Alright. We better hurry lest we're late…"

So Selene bent down carefully and slid her shoes on, and ran on tiptoes for a few seconds before catching up with the two woman and the maid. They went into a small room near the place where they would go down the wide ballroom stairs when they were announced, which was soon after they got there for Mrs. Goldstein. Elaine soon followed, saying, "The maid will come get you when the person before you is being announced."

Selene had only been in the ballroom once, the last time she was here. It was at two in the morning of the last night she was there, and she couldn't sleep. She went wandering, trying to find the kitchens so she could get a drink, and ran into Klaus, who was apparently doing the same thing (as it turns out—Klaus often woke up at one/two o'clock to get a drink. Usually, when Selene woke up at about the same time (which was any night she didn't fall right asleep from exhaustion), she just layed there with her eyes closed, or stared at the ceiling. But that night, she felt that she should get up. So she did. And after they both had a glass of apple juice, Klaus said he wanted to show her something—and led her to the ballroom.

The barefooted Selene, wide-eyed, spun around in the room, which was beautiful in the moonlight. Klaus smiled at his girlfriend, who looked enchanted. "Might I have this dance, dearest?" He bowed a little bit and held out his hand.

She laughed and put her hand in his, "Only if you promise to stop calling me that, mi'lord."

And so they danced around the large, ornate, and empty ballroom, in bare feet and pajamas, to a dream-like tune only they could here. Celeste gave a happy sigh—it was her favorite memory.

Selene's memories were interrupted when the maid entered the room, "It's time, miss." Selene stood up from where she had been perched on the edge of a chair, "Coming, coming."

…. …. ….

Klaus was standing with his older brother, Percival, off to the side (Elaine is over with Mrs. Goldstein, speaking in whispers and giggling), fiddling with something hidden in the coat pocket of his fancy silvery-grey suit. About half of the attenders have been announced, and with each one, he grows more nervous. One can tell by how his face keeps becoming more and more like stone. Percival nudges his younger brother, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen Medusa among our guests, you're so stiff." Klaus jumped a bit when his brother touched his arm.

He sighed. "I can't help it. I don't think I've been more nervous in my life—and that's really saying something." He shook his head, "I've gone head to head with inhuman guards, met her family, dealt with father, and discovered that I'm dating someone who has royal blood from two different species—none of it compares to what I'm going through right now. How did you do it, Percy, how? How did you do it and not die of a heart attack?"

Percy laughed. He liked to think he wasn't this bad before he did it himself, all those many years ago. "Do you love her?"

Klaus looked at his brother, "With every speck of my being and soul."

"Then keep that in mind. That's all you can do."

Klaus was silent, a completely new look on his face. He wasn't paying attention to Percival anymore—all of his attention was at the stairs. " _And last, but most certainly not least,_ " the announcer began, " _we welcome Miss Selene Celeste Fonix to the Goldstein's Midwinter Ball._ " The whole room was silent as a woman in a silvery and golden dress almost seemed to float down the stairs, and what ethereal creature she was—her glittering face behind the mask was a rosy red (a red that reached her ears, not that anyone was paying attention). It wasn't until she stumbled ever so slightly at the bottom of the stairs that the stillness spell over the occupants of the room broke. People started to whisper, most of them having never heard of this woman, or not being able to recall where they had heard the name.

Klaus, on the other hand, was still spellbound as he slowly made his way through the crowd. The musicians started up a waltz, and one of the younger men had approached Selene, but she paid him no heed as she spotted Klaus, "Sorry. I've got to go." She apologized without looking back at the poor guy. She smirked as Klaus stood in front of her, completely and utterly enthralled to the point of silence. "Like what you see, _dearest_?" She teased. Klaus blinked and shook his head slightly.

" _I do, my darling, very much so. I hardly believed it was my Selene coming down those stairs. This is probably the most astounding transformation you've made—and you've turned yourself into a dog and an exact copy of my younger brother._ "

She laughed at this, "I said the same thing. For a moment I thought you wouldn't know it was me, but then I remembered that the entrance was to be announced."

"Well, dearest," Klaus bowed slightly and held out his hand, much like he had on the other night they had been together in this room, "might I have this dance?"

She put her hand in his, "Yes. You can have this dance, and every single one after."

…. …. ….

Mr. Goldstein watched from afar as his second son danced with that girl. Even he had to admit that she looked like something unhuman, something not really meant for mortal eyes. Klaus spun her around and her clear laughter rang out. The two young adults danced around the room, completely absorbed in each other. They talked in that foreign language of hers, laughing and smiling. He had never seen his son this relaxed, this...happy.

"They're perfect for each other, dear. Absolutely perfect." He turned to his wife, his beloved wife. "You must stop denying it, it won't do anything but drive him further away from you. He'd give her this world, the next world, and every other world in between. This love of his is true."

"He's young. How does he know what true love is? This...severe infatuation of his will be his ruin. He's only know the blasted girl a mere year." But at this point, they were just empty words—he could no longer believe his own words.

"He may be young, but he of all people knows. Perhaps it started out as an infatuation—but that infatuation was strong enough to go through several powerful refiner's fires within a year of him knowing her. After the first fire, it became love. And with every fire after that, it just became stronger and stronger. There are things that the both of them have suffered through that neither of us could ever imagine. You need to accept that or you'll end up losing him completely."

And he had. He didn't quite know when, but at some point he had. It just took until now to realize it, and he sighed, "I guess I'll have to then." He looks at the dancing couple again, "He does look happier than I've ever seen him."

"You know, he's planning to do something tonight. It's why Elaine and I worked so hard to make her as pretty as she could be. A girl should feel special on a night like this." His wife sighed, looking dreamy.

"You don't mean he plans to…"

"Yes, dear. He does."

…. …. ….

The two danced for what felt like a forever—and loved every moment of it. "I almost feel like _Cinderella_." Selene had said at one point, then explained the story to Klaus. "But don't worry, I've no need to disappear at midnight. I'm a wizardess, and the time limit on my magic is nonexistent."

"I never worried. I'm not like that foolish prince—I'll never let you get away."

They conversed and danced, and Selene felt like it was a dream. A wonderful, wonderful dream. She knew that this was one dream that didn't have to end—she knew, in the very depths of her heart and soul, that they'd always been together. This was no teenage infatuation. This was a love of the strongest kind, one that had survived countless refiners' fires.

At one point, Selene mentioned that her feet were hurting and they should sit down and take a break. Instead, Klaus led her out of the room. Once the door had shut behind them, he swept her up in his arms. She giggled, "Thanks. I can only stand heels for so long—and I've long since past my record."

"You're welcome. I'm surprised you didn't kick them off and send them flying a while ago." He chuckled.

"I didn't for two reasons—one, I didn't want them to stab and kill anybody, and two, I was almost as tall as you with them!"

"You're very proud of that, aren't you?"

"Yep! It's not my fault you're a giant."

"You're just my little shortie." he smirked, amused, "Besides, I think I like you better without them. You fit just perfectly under my chin."

"Well sometimes I want to be able to look you in the eyes without looking to the sky." she smiled and leaned her head into his chest. "You're going to be all sparkly after this. Because you do realized I'm covered in them? Sparkles can be murderous to wash out."

"All it takes is a spell, or did you forget we're wizards?"

"Oh yeah…" She looked up at them, "where are we going, by the way?" They were heading up a second set of stairs. "And aren't I heavy?"

"Heavy? Seriously, I don't know how you eat more than all seven of your brothers combined and still weigh no more than a pillow. As for where we're going, there's a special place I want to show you. It's my favorite place in the house." mentally he added, ' _And it's about to become even more special._ '

"I don't know how I do it...for some reason I just seem to _burn_ through all the food." she giggled at her joke, "I'm just a special child~."

"Not a child so much anymore."

"I believe that everyone is a child at heart, no matter how deep down—we've been over this." She grinned and poked his cheek, making him turn and lightly nip at it. She pulled back, holding the offended finger and stuck her tongue out at him. "See, that was your inner child showing through~!"

He set her down and opened the door in front of them. Selene walked in and gasped. They were in some sort of domed glass observatory. The ceiling was completely made of glass and the sky was clear of all clouds—the stars shown brightly, no lights to hide them. The room was warm, too, so Selene was thrilled. "Oh, this is just lovely, perfectly wonderful…" She spun around once, arms flung out, facing the heavens and laughing. Klaus walked in and shut the door behind him

"I brought you here for a reason. Selene," Klaus took a deep breath, "I love you."

Selene stopped spinning and looked at him, "I know that, silly. I love you, too. So, so much." Her giddy mood became a little more serious as she noticed that Klaus was speaking seriously.

"I love you to no end, Selene. I want to give you anything and everything. So I'm asking," he got pulled a small something out of his pocket and got down on one knee, facing Selene, with the most earnest and loving face Selene had ever seen him wear. "Will you marry me?"

Selene was stunned into silence. In his hand was a little ring box with a thin silver band that had a moonstone—one of Selene's birthstones—in place of a diamond. "We don't have to get married right away, either. I will wait as long as it takes for you to be ready." He looked down, biting his lip, "And you of all people know how impatient I can be. I love you more than enough to wait eternity."

Tears had begun to slowly slide down her cheeks, "Oh...Klaus...oh my...yes! Yes! Infinitely yes!"

And the moment he had slid the ring on her finger, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him—which surprised him. She normally wasn't the one doing the kissing.

And after they were gone a while, his father noticed their absence and groaned into his hands—still not entirely ready to let his son go—as his wife patted him on the back and said, "It's the perfect night for it, dear. Don't worry, I bet they won't actually _get_ married until after she graduates, so you have about two years."

To see a picture of the ring, use this link:

www. etsy listing/ 178994223/ simple-faceted-moonstone-ring-sterling


	7. New Years 2015-16

I had the idea for this spin off around three o'clock the Monday before Christmas, and typed it up over the next few days. Enjoy!

* * *

New Years Special (2015-16)

Third Person POV

All of the girls were gathered in Selene's dorm room—the room for female prefects—on the evening before New Years Eve. Well, Selene hadn't quite arrived yet. Her and Klaus were still coming back, but Selene had sent Klaus' familiar on ahead with a note saying they should be back in about three hours—and that was just under three hours ago. Katalina (x Elias), Philyra (pronounced fli-I-ra) (x Yukiya), Marelda (x Luca), and Zelia (x Serge) were talking about Midwinter and what they should do for New Years as they waited for the oldest member of their circle for friends. Their buddies were back at the teachers dorm waiting for Klaus—though they had to wait in the hall because Klaus didn't trust them enough to give them a key—besides, a professor giving a key to his dorm room to students wasn't a good idea, though the female prefect was special and was gifted with a key. The boys all seemed to know something about the professor and his girlfriend and wouldn't tell the girls about it. They were just _burning_ with curiosity.

They heard a key turn in the lock and a bundle of clothing fell into the room and started rolling around, shouting, "Warmth! Warmth!" while it's suitcase lay forgotten in the hall.

All four of the girls giggled as they watched their cold-"intolerant" (what a severe understatement, that is) friend began yanking off the layers upon layers of cold-resistant clothing. When she stripped down to a red sweater and jean and a single pair of fuzzy socks, she flopped onto her bed, belly down, nearly knocking off the two girls who had been sitting on it. "Ishshogootabhmmmm!"

"We can tell you're excited to be back and all, but you've left a mess!" Zelia laughed, her long, bright blue hair falling out if it's loose braid as she shook her head and rocked back in forth (as she tends to do as she laughs) on the chair that sat between the two beds in the room.

"Fiiiiiiine…" Selene flipped onto her back and waved her hand, summoning her wand, her second one, the coloring of which was silver and gold swirling around on another, with bronze veins peeking through here and there. It flew into her hand and she waved it lazily, "Wind, do your thing!"

And all of a sudden her suitcase unzipped. For a few minutes clothing zipped around the room. About half of it flew into a hamper in a corner and the other half hung themselves up or folded themselves and put themselves in the proper drawers.

"Woah…" the other girls went.

"Woah is right. It took me over half a year to be able to control the wind that well. And it was half a year well spent—I hate having to pack and unpack. The magic does a better job at it anyway." Selene sighed, propping herself up on her elbows, "How are all of you, girls? How was Midwinter? What did you guys get? Who made out with their boyfriends? Besides Zelia on that last part. There's no question she did. But what about the rest of you?" All the girls burst into laughter at their friend's antics. She sounded almost like she hadn't seen them in months.

"Why so eager to know? We saw you a week ago, for crying in a bucket!" Marelda snorted, shaking her head and causing her short, fiery red hair to bounce.

"Hey! That's my saying, thief!" Selene sniffed, folding her arms and looking off to the side, "And besides, a lot can happen in a week!"

"Then what happened in yours?" Katalina inquired.

Selene bit her lip and squirmed in her seat, turning red, "Well...uh...ummm…"

"So you want us to kiss and tell, but you yourself won't?" Marelda teased.

Philyra, the youngest member of the group at a younger 15, with her sea green (left eye) and stormy grey (right) eyes sparkling, got up from her spot where she was sitting at Zelia's feet, petting Blayze (who had arrived a while before Selene), and climbed on the bed, grabbing Selene's left hand and raising it up for everyone to see. The other three gasped at the glittering moonstone gem attached to a silver ring. "Does it have something to do with this?" Philyra said in her quiet, lullaby voice.

"Is that...is that an engagement ring?!" Katalina's jaw had dropped a good deal. Selene looked down, entire face on (not-literal, you can never be too sure in Selene's case) fire, and nodded.

"Congratulations!" Zelia had lunged from her seat and gave Selene a big hug, squealing.

"When did he…?" Katalina seemed awed by the simple ring. Then turned red as she imagined an older Elias asking her. Her friends could guess exactly where her train of thought had gone, and they all giggled.

"Midwinter's Eve. He took me to the observatory—this beautiful room that's opened to the sky because the ceiling and most of the walls are made of enchanted glass—when the annual Goldstein ball was over, and then, after another confession—the sweetest one I've ever heard—he asked me to marry him. He said he'd wait to actually get married until I was ready, and I said yes!"

Katalina and Zelia squealed, Marelda grinned, and Philyra smiled shyly, like she always did. Selene fell back onto her bed, her legs from her knees down hanging off the edge of the bed, and sighed dreamily. "I think we're going to wait at least until after I graduate, because that'd be the easiest. And just to let you guys know, you're four of my five bridesmaids if you say yes…"

They all immediately agreed. The fifth would be Amelia, who was visiting her home with her own boyfriend (who's name will not be mentioned at this time because it will spoil too much of the actual story), and none of them doubted in the slightest that she'd freak when she came home and possibly pass out from excitement (it had happened once or twice before, to be honest…).

The five talked about their breaks and what they had all done, and about all the other girly-talk blah blah blah…

At some point, Katalina brought up the idea for having a New Years Party with everyone.

"I mean, it'd really just be for all of us and our buddies, you know? For the most part, we're the only ones left in the academy, the place is pretty deserted. It'd be fun!" Katalina finished. Everyone agreed.

"You know, there is a tradition for couples on New Years back in Terra." Selene said.

"Really? What is is?" Zelia asked.

"I don't know if it's the same here, but people will countdown the last few seconds—my brothers and I always counted down from ten—and once the bells ring midnight, couples will kiss. It's supposed to signify renewed strength in a relationship for the new year, but some people will just use it as an excuse to make out." She gave Zelia a teasing look and they all laughed.

"That is a pretty good excuse to do so, you all have to admit." Zelia smiled and shrugged innocently.

Marelda rolled her eyes, "Like you and Serge need an excuse. You'll just do it whenever, wherever, just to do so. You two are so shameless…" She shook her head.

"I don't think it's shameless so much as they're so busy with each other that they don't notice anyone else is there…" Philyra giggled. Her giggles sounded like the soft tinkling of little bells.

"True." Selene agreed. "Anyway, baaaack to what I was saying—my idea is that we shock our boyfriends a bit and…" She relayed her idea. After a while, everyone agreed, even though a few were a bit too embarrassed to do it right away. "But we all have to do it at the same time,or it won't work, agreed?"

"Agreed." They chorused.

…. …. …. (The next evening, about five to midnight)

They were using the common room in the boys' dorm, because it was smaller than the one in the girls' dorm (the one is the girls' dorm was positively _huge_ , and the one in this dorm was the right size for their little party. Zelia had conjured a magical clock about an hour 'til midnight, to count down the time until. They had pushed a lot of the furniture against the walls, making room for the ten people there to walk around. There was a table off to the side full of simply scrumptious food made my Selene, Yukiya, and Katalina. During this party, which had started around eight pm, various people performed as entertainment—Elias and Katalina had done a duet on the violin and piano, Selene and Philyra sung a few songs each, Selene had taught everyone (well, everyone who she could get to participate, which was everyone but Philyra and Yukiya, Yukiya mostly because she wasn't) how to the dance to Cotton-Eyed Joe and the Macarena, and had also set up some magic firework-like things her brothers had sent her that would go off and send golden sparks and stars into the air when it hit midnight, but other than those, Selene connected her phone to a portable speaker and had a mixture of Terran Christmas songs and other songs playing, allowing people to dance when they chose and whatnot.

At the current time, everyone was just waiting for the change of the hour. Yukiya and Philyra were snuggled together on one of the couches, Elias, Katalina, Luca, and Marelda were playing a card game while Zelia sat on Serge's lap, giggling and dramatically commentating the game while the others (and herself) tried not to laugh at her too much. Selene and Klaus were dancing to a waltz-like song and talking. When there was one minute left, Selene called out, "Positions people!"

Katalina and Marelda put their cards down, Zelia shifted positions on Serge's lap, Philyra rotated a bit, and Selene cut of her dancing with Klaus. They looked at the glowing magical clock in the center of the room. The girls (along with Serge and Luca) started counting down with it when it reached ten seconds left.

Ten...

Nine…

Eight…

Seven…a giggling Zelia wrapped her arms around Serge's neck

Six…Philyra and Katalina both took a deep breath and released it

Five…Philyra took Yukiya's face between her hands

Four…Marelda grabbed Luca's shoulders

Three…Katalina leaned towards Elias

Two…Selene wrapped her hand around Klaus' tie

One…

Philyra gently kissed Yukiya, Katalina pecked Elias on the lips, well, it was a little longer than a peck, Marelda pulled Luca in and pressed her lips against his, Selene yanked Klaus by his tie toward her and kissed him deeply, and Zelia and Serge were making out within a few seconds.

All of the boys (except Serge, who was _busy_ ) blushed. Then Klaus smirked, Luca grinned, Yukiya gently smiled, and Elias looked panicked, unsure of what to do.

Selene's cheesey-smile was wide, "I thought it'd be fun to reenact our first kiss, so I did." Upon hearing this, Yukiya, Elias, and Luca (mostly Luca) snorted—they remembered that instance all too well.

"How bold. But that wasn't enough, you know." Luca whispered in Marelda's ear, making her flush and quickly back away, shouting "pervert!" Luca play-pouted, "But you were the one who invited me…" he whined.

Yukiya wrapped his arms around Philyra, and they sat cuddled together—they didn't need to speak to understand one another.

Elias and Katalina were smiling at each other, both blushing madly, like the innocent little couple they were.

And you already know what Serge and Zelia were doing, reader, because if you don't—I apologize in advance for this—you are an utter moron.

Selene glanced at the fervently kissing couple and playfully groaned, " _Ugh_..just get a _room_ , you two!"

A smiling Serge pulled back for a second, much to the fleeting disappointment of Zelia, and scooped her up into his arms, standing up. "Okie-dokie!" He then began to quickly carry a giggling Zelia off.

Selene ran after them laughing, "Serge, I wasn't being serious! Come back!" Klaus chuckled and shook his head as he watched.

"And she tells _me_ to be careful with my words…" everyone else in the room sniggered.

…. …. ….

After getting Serge to come back with Zelia, the party continued for at least another hour and a half. By two o'clock, Philyra and Katalina had fallen asleep. All five of the guys were still awake, and so were the other three girls.

And somehow, Selene was acting very drunk.

Elias looked over at where his brother was trying to get his girlfriend to sit still for more than five seconds. For the past half hour, Selene had been dancing around the room, giggling. She hadn't been like that in over a year, ever since they found out…

"What's with Selene?" Luca was snickering at the scene. Klaus rarely looked like this—flustered and irritated.

"I think she's drunk again. It's happened once or twice, and always on accident." Elias sighed.

"There's no alcohol here. Only Klaus and Serge are really old enough to have any, anyway." Zelia's shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter.

Serge piped up, "The chocolates I brought were sent to me from the shop my grandmother used to run. They have a bit of alcohol in the filling...but not enough to make someone even mildly drunk unless they've eaten a few entire boxes."

Klaus gave up on trying to get Selene to sit still and let her twirl around room giggling again. He had overheard Serge and came over and smacked him upside the head (not hard enough to really hurt). "Moron! Selene gets drunk on less that a tablespoon of alcohol—and she had at least nine or ten of those chocolates!" The irk mark on his forehead was almost visible.

"Are you kidding me…?" Luca snorted, "How is that even possible...?"

"You do know she's a halfling right? Well the half that's not human has zero tolerance to human alcohol—it makes them really sick. It's only because she's half human that she has any tolerance at all!" Klaus sighed aggravatedly, "And now I have to deal with _her_ in this state…!" he mumbled.

"What's wrong with this? She looks like she's having fun." Marelda commented.

"She won't even remember it in the morning. She never does." Philyra yawned, having woken up and was rubbing her eyes. She then leaned back into Yukiya's chest, content to stay where she was and fall back asleep. Katalina was curled up on the other end of the couch with Elias' jacket over her. That girl could sleep through a hurricane, which was a good equivalent to amount of noise Selene was now making.

"Then maybe you can try getting her to calm down without getting…" he coughed as Selene appeared behind him and threw her arms around his neck unexpectedly, making him stumble backwards a bit.

"Klaus!" She squealed, "It's yooooou!" She giggled and gave him a big smooch on the cheek. Elias snickered because his older brother looked unsure of just what to do, which was something that rarely ever happened.

Big mistake.

She then noticed Elias, and her eyes widened as she noticed him and gasped, then squealed, letting go of Klaus and flying at Elias. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her cheek against him, spinning him around and cooing: "Mini Klaus! Mini Klaus! Yaaaaaaaay!" Elias was now the one who was panicking, red-faced and flustered.

"Selene! Get off!" Elias pulled vainly at her arms. Even Klaus found this funny, and laughed along with everyone else. She noticed Zelia next, letting go of poor Eli and grabbing their hands, pulling her to the center of the dance floor, "Dance with me guys! Hehe!" and proceeding to quickly spin Zelia around, both girls giggling. Klaus facepalmed.

Selene started dancing a jig to the song that had just come on, waving her hands in the air and giggling.

"She's a very giggly drunk, isn't she?"Serge laughed, not even attempting to stifle it.

 _Crash!_

"This is why we can't have nice things…" Klaus sighed and flicked his wand, repairing the vase Selene had just knocked over ("Oppsie!") and sending it back up to where it was previously. He walked over to her and threw her over his shoulder, "Time for bed Selene."

She squirmed, "But I wanna dance...!" she whined, then giggled again. Klaus just sighed again and started carrying her over to the coats. He set her down and kept her from running back to the empty space in the middle of the room with one arm. He flicked his wand and all of her snow and warmth gear wrapped itself around her in a way where she could no longer move, arms pinned to her side and legs wound together, like a kid playing worm. She wiggled and squirmed as Klaus pulled on his coat and threw her over his shoulder again. "Good night every one. Serge, make sure everything gets cleaned up, since the other prefect is currently indisposed."

"Yes sir!" Serge playfully saluted Klaus.

"Bye-bye every perrrrrrson!" Selene giggled as she was carried out of the room.

Everyone either laughed or smiled as they left. Katalina sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What'd I miss…?" She looked hopelessly confused as she saw everyone laughing. At her question, they all laughed harder, baffling her even more.

"Nothing, nothing, dear." Elias waved it off, "Just your future sister-in-law being a bit more goofy than usual."

"Future sister-in-law…? Wait…wha..?" She then flushed red as she realized what her boyfriend had just implied.

Philyra smiled, still snuggled up with Yukiya. She had some really great friends.

* * *

It took me over half an hour to type up the scene with the drunk Selene...I kept giggling so hard I couldn't type…

The reason she's like that with alcohol will make sense later in Elemental.


	8. Sleeping Beauty (2016)

Okay guys, this is a special fairytale chapter that is pretty much my birthday present to myself (go April Fools' birthdays!). I had fun with it, and probably spent way too long on it but oh is well because you guys get a Elemental spin off and I get to be satisfied that this things is out of my head. Plus, you guys get somewhat of an idea who I've made the eldest Goldstein brother, whom I've named Percy. Enjoy~!

Note: ages and such and whatnot will be ( _very_ ) skewed for several of the minor characters, so I'd just pay attention to the storyline. :)

* * *

Sleeping Beauty (2016)

Once upon a time (because that's the way every fairy tail should start right?).

Just kidding. This isn't much of a fairy tale, sorry. It's somewhat similar, but not.

This particular story is about a young girl by the name of Selene. Selene was the strange, yet adored child of the smaller town of Michigan, in the country of Terra. No one really knew her history, other than the fact that one night, her heavily pregnant mother stumbled into town the eve of the Winter's Solstice. The town healer, Cynthia, and her husband, taking pity, took the young woman in, making her comfortable as she soon began her labor.

Before dawn the next morning, her babe was born—a smiling little female with peculiar eyes that were silvery grey, with flecks of gold and bronze. Soon after dawn, the mother was dead, leaving only a little waterproof bag with a few things in it, and a blonde girl named Selene.

Selene was raised by the villagers, helped them with their chores, played with the other children, and she was a downright joy to have around, with her wicked sense of humor and ever-smiling lips. She was an oddity, with her past being so clouded and unknown, but she never felt like an outsider. She accepted that she couldn't know anything more, and so did everyone else. Besides, who'd want to isolate such a lovely girl-child?

As she grew older, she learned all that she could, from whoever she could. She loved learning new things, whether it be healing, the blacksmith's art, weaving, herding, farming, or singing and dancing. She taught herself to read from the local wiseman's books, and learnt maths from the shopkeepers and passing merchants. She listened and asked questions.

In her opinion, she couldn't complain—there was to much to learn, to see. She was content, and felt that to whine or feel sorry for herself would be a discredit, a disgrace, to the wonderful town that had taken her in and raised her. Other towns would've left such a girl to die, having a dead stranger for a mother. But this town felt like they were given a chance to help someone, and took it, much to Selene's gratitude.

Now, our story takes place early in her seventeenth summer. There was a noble family, from the neighboring country of Myula, on their way to visit relatives. They stopped in this "quaint little town" for a few days, as both the mother and youngest child of the family were weary of travel. While the family was to stay for only a few days, the youngest took ill with a fever, which the local healer Cynthia said was due to exhaustion and constant travel more than anything, and they decided to stay a while longer.

It was rare that any nobles, let alone a Duke and his family, even crossed this small town, so there was much talk. The family went by the name of Goldstein, and consisted of five members: the Duke, Sir Walter Goldstein, his wife, and his three sons—Percival, the oldest at age twenty-one, a light brown haired and eyed boy who looked very much like his mother, Klaus, aged nineteen, and Elias, aged 9 (the last two both light blond and violet-eyed, the spitting images of their father).

Selene, like the rest of the town, was curious about the newcomers, but thought it rude to go bug them, especially when there was work to be done. She was quite decent at controlling her curiosity, at least to a further extent than most of the other youth in the town, and didn't see any of the noble family until three days after their arrival.

She was halfway up the tallest sassafras tree in the area, gathering the purest leaves she could find—they helped counter the bitterness of the nasty herbal teas Mrs. Cynthia brewed, the ones that worked enough to keep being brewed—because Mrs. Cynthia's stores were running low again. She was in scandalously short skirts that went all the way up to her knees, though she wore leggings beneath it. She used such skirts when she had to climb trees, to gather leaves or fruit and whatnot, or when she participated in running races at the festivals. She had gathered a good amount and put them in the little bag she wore around her neck, and was most of the way down when…

"Hello up there!"

She started, causing her foot, which was about to place itself on the next branch down, to slide down, causing her to yelp begin to fall. She didn't notice that her wrist smacked against a branch on the way down. She braced herself, preparing to hit the ground, only to be caught by something that was most definitely not the ground. She hesitantly opened her eyes to see a strange, but handsome man, perhaps four or five years older than her, with brown hair and twinkling brown eyes. "Oh, uh, hello…" she said awkwardly.

"Hello yourself. Are you alright?" He asked.

"Oh, um, yeah, I'm perfectly fine...could you, uh, put me down now?"

"Oh!" He carefully set her down, "Sorry about that. It's not every day such a beautiful girl literally falls for me."

"Thank you…?" The confused look on Selene's face made him laugh.

"Can I ask who you are? I don't think I've seen you around the town."

"My name is Selene. Could I haphazard a guess that you're one of the visiting nobility?"

"I guess that would be pretty obvious." He laughed at himself. He was wearing finer clothes, though they were simple, than she'd ever had the luck to see. He made a bow, "Percy Goldstein at your service, mi'lady. Does the Lady Selene have a last name?"

"A lady I am not, I beg your pardon, m'lord. I have no surname that I know of. I was gathering herbal leaves for my foster mother, the Healer Cynthia." She attempted a curtsey but winced as her wrist smarted, she looked and sighed, "Lovely."

"You're hurt!" Lord Goldstein rushed up to her, grabbing her hand and inspecting her wrist.

She waved him away with her undamaged hand, "It'll be merely a bruise and gone in a week or so. I've suffered far worse falling from trees. Well, m'lord, I should be going. I promised I'd be back by midday." She did a little bow and went to go take her little woodland path back to the village, but he stopped her.

"Let me take you back. It is my fault you fell, I startled you after all."

She shook her head, smiling, "'Twas my fault for being startled. I can manage."

"It's no trouble, I insist." At this point Selene could see it was pointless to argue.

She sighed, shaking her head with a smile, "If you persistently insist so, I guess I cannot say no."

"Wonderful!" He grinned, and Selene returned it—he was very friendly, for a noble. She'd never met one, but she heard from merchants passing through town that they were usually all high and mighty, acting better than everyone else. Perhaps this one was the exception that proved the rule. He took her uninjured hand in his and led her towards the main path, a little ways off. From her guess, he'd gotten curious when he saw a girl in a tree. It wasn't often you saw a girl her age climbing trees like a child. As they approached, she saw that there were two gorgeous horses, one with a rider, one without.

"Percival? Is that you? What did you run off to do this time?" A regal voice sighed. It was the rider, golden hair glinting in the sun as he turned his violet eyes to see his brother come back with a shorter (she only came up to Percy's shoulders) blond girl in ridiculously short skirts (what respectable girl wears skirts that go all the way up to their knees?) in tow.

"Hello brother, it seems **I've** found a nymph." Percy was one for joking. It took all Selene had not to snort—that'd be rude, in front of nobility.

"Then leave it in it's natural habitat." Klaus rolled his eyes. His brother was strange, and far too carefree to be a first son. In his opinion, his older brother needed to grow up and stop flirting and forever running off to satisfy his childish curiosity.

"Alright, I lied. It's one of the townsgirls, and I made her fall out of a tree and hurt her wrist. I'm being a proper gentleman and taking her back to town." Percy said cheerfully, "So deal with it. Lady Selene, this is my younger brother Klaus, though feel free to call him Stuffy."—at that, Selene covered a snicker with a light coughing—"Klaus, this is Lady Selene." Klaus nodded, inwardly rolling his eyes at his brother.

"I did tell you I'd be fine...it's just a bruise…" the girl sighed vainly, as if she knew that Klaus' pigheaded brother wouldn't listen. Interesting. Most girls would be giggling and chittering receiving such attention from Percy.

"Now then! Let's get going. After you, mi'lady." He held out his hand to help her onto the horse. Klaus suspected she only took it to be polite, from the resigned mutter of "I also said I'm not a lady…" that came from her lips, which his brother also ignored. This girl wasn't anything like a lady, but nor was she like all those country bumpkins. If anything, she seemed as if she'd rather not be here, but walking back. How many girls would rather walk back than ride with a handsome and charming young nobleman, country girl or highest noblewoman?

She sat sidesaddle, but Klaus saw something in pass through her eyes—she'd rather ride like a man. Curious. Percy swung himself up behind her, making sure she was comfortable as she gripped the saddle horn. Taking the reigns, Percy put his horse into motion, and Klaus did the same. They were going much slower than they had before, at a mild trot.

"So Lady Selene, are you the apprentice of Healer Cynthia?" Percy inquired.

"Not really. She's the one who raised me, but I do various things all around town."

"So you're what they call a 'jack of all trades' then?"

"Pretty much. I do what needs to be done. Help the healer, weaver, shopkeepers, innkeeper, farmers, tend children, cook. I go where needed."

"That sounds like a lot of work for such a delicate maiden."

"It's enjoyable. And while I'm not so sure about how delicate I look, looks can be deceiving. I am eighteen next winter." Was she really? thought Klaus, she didn't look that old. In all honesty, she looked no older than fifteen.

"Then you must forgive me—I thought you were fifteen, sixteen at most." Percy laughed, shaking his head. The girl shrugged like it didn't matter.

"Might I ask of your youngest brother? The one with the fever? He's the reason your family stayed in town, is he not?"

"Yes, his name's Elias. He's doing much better, thanks to the healer. Though he did say he could do without the teas she makes him drink."

The girl shuddered, making a face that resembled Elias' expression when he had to drink the aforementioned teas, "I can sympathize. Those bitter herbal teas are downright nasty, but I can't argue that they do help. Tell him I said it's better to let it cool, plug your nose, and gulp them as fast as you can, following it with a glass of honeyed lemon water."

"Will do, mi'lady." Percy laughed. "Speaking of teas, my brother Stuffy over there is what you might call a 'tea connoisseur', if you can believe it. He makes the best tea I've ever had, and a variety of them too. Seeing Elias have to drink such a foul brew nearly kills him." This seemed to interest the girl, who turned her gaze to Klaus, who's been listening silently while appearing not to care.

"So even nobles have certain things they won't let people do for them. Interesting. I thought nobles made their servants do most of everything for them. Then again, I'ven't met many nobles." The girl—Klaus didn't wish to think of a commoner by name—seemed amused.

"I make my own sheerly because no one else makes it correctly." Klaus said, not taking his eyes off the horizon, and keeping his tone deadpan. She snickered. Strange child.

Percy continued to talk with the girl until they reached the village, where Percy promptly jumped off and helped her down. She thanked him, did a little bow, and scurried off in the direction of the healer's home. Klaus got down from his own horse and led it towards the stables by the inn, as Percy did the same.

"She's quite the interesting woman, if I do say so myself." Percy was over-perky in Klaus' opinion. "And she was very pretty, more so, I dare say, than a good number of the noblewoman we interact with. Did you see her eyes? I've never seen the like—silver, they were, with flecks of bronze and gold!"

"When will you stop flirting with every female, common, noble, or otherwise, you cross? You need to stop being so carelessly…" Klaus struggled for the proper word as they handed the reins of their horses to the only stablehand, "Frivolous."

Percy elbowed his younger brother, "Perhaps—but only if you loosen up a little. You could do with some flirting yourself, Master Stuffy. You set a poor example of social skills for our dear little bookworm of a brother."

"Shut up, Percival. Shut up."

…. …. ….

But Percy's words did strike something in him, bugging him relentlessly, _especially_ whenever he saw that girl—this was a small town, and she seemed to be _everywhere_. Playing with the children in the streets, pumping the bellows for the blacksmith, bustling around as a waitress in the tavern, organizing things for the shopkeepers, talking with anybody and everybody, bringing the teas and medicines for Elias—everywhere. And everyone seemed to love her. His own parents met her, and liked her. She was distracting. Whenever she was in the room, no one could help but gravitate to her, and Klaus was no exception, though he did it far more subtly. He avoided her best he could, because he needed to focus, on his studies and such, and he couldn't with her around. He did his best to ignore her, telling himself that she was some random, unimportant commoner girl who shouldn't— _didn't_ —matter to him.

But after they were there three weeks, they were preparing to leave when they were warned that there was going to be a nasty summer storm the next day, and it took two days of swift travel to reach the next town. The healer stressed that it would be a bad idea, since Elias was only just better from his fever and sickness, and it might cause him to relapse. Their father decided they were going to stay and wait out the storm and muddy roads, since the farmers predicted that the storm would last two days, then would end. It would take at least two more days for the roads to dry up again enough for carriages and wagons.

And it was a good thing they did stay, for a thick, heavy, oppressive fog rolled in that evening, it it was impossible to see more than a few feet in each direction. It was clear that it would be followed by heavy rains by the next morning.

Sitting in the tavern of the inn, the Goldsteins took their supper. While outside was naught but fog, inside the tavern there was a roaring fire and a cheery atmosphere. Well, mostly. Oftentimes, on crowded nights like this, Selene helped out the family that ran the inn, serving food and taking orders. Only, instead of the bright and energetic girl that usually bustled around the room and balancing an impossible amount of orders and meals as she slid along smoothly among the tables, there was a dreary, blank-faced girl who was sluggish in her movements walked around and did the same job.

Tapping the shoulder of one of the young boys rushing around the room with water jugs, Percy asked him of that dreary girl, "Might I ask what is wrong with Lady Selene? She's normally so full of life."

The boy shrugged, "Miss 'Lena always gets like this with bad weather. She doesn't like it—says it's a 'wretched, rotten joke of nasty _blech_ played by mother nature' when you ask her about it." He giggled at his attempt to mimic her tone, "She'll be back to normal the next time the sun comes out." He bowed and continued on his way.

"Interesting." Percy said, looking thoughtful, "So there is something that makes her depressed. Up until now, I thought that impossible!"

"Percy, just eat your dinner." Klaus sighed.

"Klaus, just loosen up." Percy sighed dramatically in return.

Elias giggled at his brothers and continued eating his cherry cobbler.

…. …. ….

' _I've found you. You're mother hide you well, but she couldn't prevent your fate.' The most hair-raising laughter sounded from this unknown person. Selene couldn't even tell if it was male or female._

' _Who are you?' She cried, 'What do you want?'_

 _Selene saw a spinning wheel, one that looked like it was made from sticks from the forest ground, it's wheel spinning slowly, a little light glinting off the sharp tip of a needle that could pierce through her skull and some out the other side._

' _Revenge…' The wheel burst into flaming shards an_ d Selene bolted up in her cot, panting as a crack of thunder literally shook the house. Her clothes were sticky with nightmare-sweat. She shook her head, strands that had come loose from her braid tickling the sides of her face. She rarely dreamt, and had never had such a chilling, haunting dream that had felt so... _real_. Like it was going to happen.

She also had the most ominous feeling that seemed to have nothing to do with the nightscare. Something bad was coming. She knew it. The rain that pattered on the roof did not sooth her—if anything, it made the dread increase. She slid out of bed and pulled on her shoes. She didn't remember where her rain-cover-cloak was, and grabbed a cloth, tying it over her mouth, so she wouldn't feel as if she was drowning in the heavy rain. Standing at the doorway to the house, she stared at the rain, then began to run, following the instinctual feeling of danger to it's source. There was a light towards the center of the town, far too bright to be a lantern or hearth fire.

Only freezing a moment at the sight of the fire spreading on the roof of the tavern, she ran straight up the steps of the bell tower, slipping in the wet. She grabbed the rope and began to pull with all her might; the large town bell was heard above the storm, and people came rushing out of their homes. The only time that bell rang when it was night time was when raiders struck—or when there was a fire. The roofs of the wooden in were oiled to shed the rain—oil that created a fire that the rain wasn't putting out. There were exclamations of panic, and people were stumbling out of the burning building—this was a busy time of year, when all sorts of merchants and traveling folk were passing through.

Selene stopped ringing the bell—enough were up. She doubted anyone was still sleeping. Hurrying down the steps and to the crowd, her instincts took over and she started directing the confused people, using lungs that were strong from all her useage of them, "The wet won't put it out! Get mud! Smother it! Move move MOVE!" That was all the people needed to start getting buckets and shovels. The older boys were scaling the walls of surrounding buildings, passing up buckets of mud to slop over the roof of the inn. People went into action.

Selene went around to those who had been staying in the inn, seeing if anyone was missing. She got head shakes and "no"s mostly. She reached the nobles, who were standing to the side. The lady was sobbing into her husband's arms as the older son, with much effort, held back his brother who was trying to go towards the inn. The youngest wasn't there.

"My baby's still inside!" The woman wailed, "Elias! He's not out yet!"

Selene met eyes with the terrified mother and nodded, running towards the building, ducking and dodging the arms of people who tried to stop her. Reaching the open door she darted in, jumping around the burning bits and running up stairs that were falling apart. She ran through the hallways to the section where the Goldstein's were quartered. There was a child crying. She came up to a doorway that was blocked by a burning support beam that had fallen. The sobs came from inside.

There was a part towards the middle of the beam that was nearly burned through. Selene brought her heel down and it broke, leaving her ankle throbbing. Her clothes were nearly dried from the heat as she went towards the source of the non-fire noise, sobs broken by coughs. There was a little blond boy curled up, rocking and terrified, in the closest, which had yet to be touched by the flames. She yanked the door open, "Up child! We must get out!" Little violet eyes turned to face her and he nodded. She pulled the cloth from over her mouth and deftly tied it over his own: he'd breathed in far more smoke than she. Scooping him up in her arms—he was small for a boy of near nine—she began running back the way she came, which was far more treacherous than she'd left it. She felt the boy's muffled sobs against her shoulder, his arms tightening around her shoulders, as she jumped down the stairs.

She's nearly made it out the door when there was a flash. Throwing the boy out the door and into the mud, a crack of thunder and wood went simultaneously, and she stumbled forward as the building just behind her cracked, and a flying piece of wood smacked her in the head, making Selene Surnameless collapse into the darkness.

…. …. ….

Klaus couldn't even thank the girl who saved his little brother, the person he cared about more than anything else, the girl who went into a burning building only to have it collapse on her as she was almost in the clear.

The girl his older brother was carrying to the healers home, the girl with blood smeared from the rain oozing down her forehead. The girl who was alive, but not conscious. Only the healer could tell them how badly she was hurt. Klaus was carrying Elias, who was covered in mud and whimpering into his shoulder.

"What's happening?" The woman in the doorway of the healer's home had two children behind her, who were asking questions in a sleepy mumble. "I heard the bell. Fire or raiders?" She saw Selene in Percy's arms and gasped, "What happened?"

"Later. She's injured." Klaus had rarely heard Percy sound so serious, so much like the noble he actually was. He was usually so laid back it was easy to forget sometimes.

The healer nodded stiffly, "Bring her in."

They followed the woman into her house and Percy gently set Selene on a cot that was near the door. Her eyelids fluttered and she groaned. The healer rushed over with some clothes and gently dabbed away the blood, searching for the wound. There were scratches all over the girl, though, strangely, no burns.

Elias buried his face deeper into his brother's shoulder. He hated the sight of blood.

The woman's brow furrowed as she discovered a long, shallow slice that went from the hairline to a few inches back on her adoptive daughter's head. While she went and pulled out a needle and some thread, Percy began relaying the events.

"She's a hero. Not only did she wake everyone up, but she went in for Elias, too." Percy gestured to his youngest brother who was still shivering in Klaus' arms, "We owe her more than we could ever repay her."

Cynthia nodded, smiling softly as she pulled another stitch, "And she'll more'n likely reject any thanks, saying anyone would've done it. Now, Glaven," she spoke to her oldest son, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, "get these men some blankets and put some water on the fire." The boy nodded and rushed off.

Selene slowly came back to awareness as the healer finished tying the knot. "Cynthia…?" She mumbled, looking dazed. Cynthia cupped the girl's face with her hand.

"Yes, dear?"

"I'm glad I woke up after the stitches. Stupid needles."

Cynthia laughed, sounding relieved. To the confused look on the faces of the others in the room, she said, "The girl hates having to see or feel needles go into skin. Gives her the shivers." Turning back to the out-of-it girl, "From what I can tell, you just need some rest and you'll be fine. Now, drink this and go to sleep, you here?" Galven came over, balancing a cup. Selene wrinkled her nose, before pinching it and drinking the bitter herbal brew in a few gulps. She shuddered and handed the cup back. The strong sleeping herbs that were in it immediately began to take effect and her eyes drooped. She got up and stumbled towards her room in the back of the house.

"Now, if you'll let me see the boy. He's probably inhaled a good deal of smoke." With some gentle words she got the boy to release his brother and sit on a stool so she could begin her inspection.

…. …. ….

Selene slept through the next day, and the next. Klaus kept stopping by to see if she was awake, but she was fast asleep each time. His excuse to others was that he had to thank her for saving Elias, but he'd knew he was lying, despite that being partially the truth. There was a deeper reason. One he could barely admit to himself, much less to you, reader (no offense intended).

It was early evening, and everyone was out and about, no one home when he came to check on Selene again. He'd stopped referring to her as "that girl" in his head. Selene's adoptive family was out bringing food to those who were working on repairs to the inn, which had half burned down. A good chunk of personal belongings had been saved, but it was overall unstable inside, only the lightest of the boys and older girls daring the upper floors. He went inside after knocking and hearing no answer, heading straight to the back room where Selene had her small bedroom. She wasn't there. The bed wasn't made, but she was no longer lying in it. There was a small back door that lead from her room to directly outside, and it was open, rocking back and forth slightly in the gentle wind what was outside.

Klaus ran out of it, to see the last sliver of white disappear into the woods right behind the house. These woods were thicker than the majority—the fairies' woods, a townsperson had mentioned. Only those who were very brave or foolish went too deep into them.

The nightgown someone had changed Selene into at some point was white. Klaus took off at a brisk pace, determined to catch up. Fairies were mere tales. This was just an old forest, nothing more. It was an easy trail to follow—he'd been hunting enough, and was a decent tracker. But she wasn't doing anything to hide her path—which was odd, because she normally left no trace because of the light way in which she walked, practically prancing around. Perhaps it wasn't her. But he might as well make sure. The strange things he'd heard about the woods kept echoing in his head—people disappearing and not coming back, people who were drawn in like they were in a trance and never seen again, others coming back half-mad and terrified, babbling about magic creatures and terrifying beasts, people who weren't fully human. Curse Percy for asking so many questions.

"Selene?" He called, "Are you nearby?" There was no answer, and he sped up, being careful with the signs left behind. He'd been going in deeper and deeper for over an hour, and swore to himself that he wasn't lost. The woods got dark before the open areas from the thick tree cover, and Klaus found himself wishing he'd thought to grab a lantern. But there was a dim grey glow that seemed to come from the wood itself, and a white scrap of cloth caught on a tree branch shone like a light, stark against the wild rosebush it was tangled in. Klaus yanked it out, pulling a few thorns with it, and promptly got scratched. He cursed and pulled the thorns out, dropping them back in the bush. He started again. He had to admit to himself he was hopelessly lost.

"Are you looking for her?" Said a voice, "The light-haired human girl with the constant smile?"

Klaus whirled around, "Who's there?!" He demanded.

"Someone who owes her a debt. Answer the question." The voice sounded uninterested, like a bored young man, for all that it was so quiet Klaus had to strain to hear it.

"Yes. I'm trying to find the girl named Selene. Do you know where she went?" He was slowly looking around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"The jealous fairy has her. She's going to her doom."

Klaus froze, "Her doom?"

"Yes. I'd help her but those of magic cannot stand against a royal fairy, even if she's only the king's half sister. Can you help her?"

"I'll do whatever I can to. Can you take me to her?"

"Yes. Follow." He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled around. There was something moving away from him. "Hurry." It said, "Before the curse takes hold and it's too late."

Klaus began to run after him, stumbling in the dark. He followed for nearly half an hour, catching no more than mere glimpses of what was leading him. Klaus hoped it wasn't a trap. The voice sounded sincere, but so did his own white lies at court.

He was panting slightly as they slowed, glad of his physical stamina.

"I can take you no further. You must hurry. It is right ahead." Klaus nodded, taking off at a trot. He glimpsed what seemed to be a young boy with dark hair and an eyepatch. Klaus decided he must have imagined the wolf ears and tail—humans didn't have animal ears, much less tails.

He saw a glowing ahead and stopped, hidden by some high bushes. He looked carefully through them—no matter what he wanted to think, this sickly green glow wasn't natural.

He stifled a gasp when he saw the girl in the white night gown reaching out for a rough spinning wheel that looked to be made of sticks and bark. A long, sharp, menacing needle glinted in the unearthly glow. A pale hand reached for it.

"No!" He cried, feeling like something horrible would happen if she touched it. But she kept reaching in an almost trancelike state. A chilling, bitter laughter rang through the woods as he fought his way through the bushes into the clearing. He could almost hear the sound of the needle pricking her finger. A drop of blood winded down the needle and everything went in slow motion as he lunged to catch her as her legs gave out beneath her. He caught her and landed on his knees as he cradled her in her arms. She was so much smaller than he'd thought—it was easy to forget because her personality was so big it exceeded her person.

Beside them, the spinning wheel melted into the ground, and Klaus stood up, getting her away from the wretched thing. "It's too laaaaate~" sang the same voice that had been laughing, "Maybe next time mortals will think twice before stealing away the betrothed of a fairy." It began laughing again, fading as if it was leaving, going away.

Klaus wanted to get away from this cursed place. He was lost and completely unsure of where he was, but anywhere was better than that place. He tried to wake her up—Selene was alive, her heart was beating and she was breathing softly. Where was that person? The one who said he owed her a debt? After what he'd just witnessed, perhaps magic was real. And if magic was real, and that person had it, perhaps he'd know a way to wake Selene up.

"Hello? Where did you go?" He called out at the place where he'd left the boy.

"You were too late…" came the whisper from behind him, and he turned. In the shadows was the boy with the eyepatch and the tail. Instead of the bored, apathetic tone he heard earlier, the person's voice seemed...sorrowful.

"Are you magic? You said you owed her. Can't you do anything?"

The dark-haired boy shook his head, "My magic does naught but curse others. It's why I left. The only one who believed it wasn't a curse was her." He motioned to the girl limp in Klaus's arms, "She'd visit me, and talk to me, and there's nothing I can do to repay her because any magic I have only harms and corrupts. Tonight the moon is half-full, and I am half beast. I'll take you back to the village, but I can do no more." With the speed and grace of a shadow among shadows, it moved and began moving away, and Klaus hurried to follow, sleeping Selene in his arms.

It was near dawn by the time they got back, and they were about to send out a search party for the two missing youths when Klaus trod heavily into the town. There was a big fuss, and Klaus sat before his family and Selene's adoptive family, told the story once, and didn't say another word for the entire day, withdrawing and going for a ride on his horse. By himself.

Selene was put back in her bed, after Cynthia changed her into a non-half-shredded nightgown and brushed out her hair. All day people came and heard what happened, and it spread through the town like the fire that damaged the inn. Children who didn't understand kept asking why big sister Selene wouldn't wake up—she was just asleep, not dead, so why wasn't she waking up?

Percy tried to talk to his brother, but was unsuccessful. Elias just gave him a hug and told him that it'd be okay. That seemed to help Klaus more than the words of his other family members, though he was still as silent as ever.

The next morning, Duke Goldstein announced that the family would be leaving, saying that it was time for them to move on—they were late to their visit with their maternal grandfather's as it was. This caused a sharp jab of pain in Klaus' chest—he'd have to leave Selene, who still hadn't woken up—but he retained his neutral expression, nodding stiffy. Unbeknownst to him, his mother sensed his sorrow, and tried to convince her husband to let them stay just a little longer. He agreed that they could leave at dawn the next day instead of after midday meal.

After the family meeting adjourned, Klaus wandered off. Until recently, he'd never felt lost. And he never felt so lost as he had now. He wondered what was wrong with him—falling in love, in two weeks, with a girl he barely knew and who was currently in a coma? But, his Hopeful self argued, she was loved by the entire town, and she did save Elias without even a thought to herself getting hurt. That had to say something, didn't it?

You barely know her and you're leaving tomorrow, retorted his voice of Reason, besides, she's in a magical sleep, and who knows when, if ever, she'll wake up.

Shut up, said Hope, shut up Reason.

Klaus shook his head. Perhaps he was going insane—perhaps he'd gotten infected with something in the forest that made him lose his reason. Yeah, that was it.

While he was lost in his thoughts, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and when he pushed away the thoughts, he realized that he was in front of the healer's home. The healer herself was in her herb garden weeding. Looking up, she smiled softly, "Did you come to see her?" He nodded, not sure why he was doing so. "Go ahead. She's still in her room." She motioned with a hand covered in dark earth and went back to her weeding. Klaus noticed that she looked far more worn out than the first time he saw her, coming to diagnose Elias.

Of course she would be, said Reason, the town inn burned down, injuring her daughter—not to mention several others—and then soon after the same daughter is cursed into a sleep with little chance of being awoken. Of course she's worn to the bone. You should leave and not cause her trouble.

Again, Reason, said Hope, shut up. We need to be able to at least say goodbye to Selene.

Whatever, sighed Reason.

Yup, he was going mad. No doubt about it.

He gently pushed open the door to her room, as it was always left open a crack from what he could tell. He was sure the healer, Cynthia, had mentioned that Selene had a fear of being trapped, so he didn't close it all the way behind him, leaving it open a bit.

He sighed, sitting on the low stool placed beside the bed, "I'm leaving tomorrow. I don't suppose you'll wake up enough for me to thank you for saving Elias? Or so I can say you're a fool for getting trapped in a spell and venturing into a magical forest? Or to confess the fact that I've fallen in love with you?" That last sentence was barely above a whisper. He laughed bitterly at himself.

On an impulse, he decided to lean forward. Then the door flew open and he jumped, making the stool to slide out from under him and causing him to go forward. And he kissed her on the lips. It was an accident—he was going for the forehead. He jerked back, face burning.

"Oh, uh, sorry...are you okay…?" Asked Galvin, Cynthia's oldest son, who'd run inside to check on his big sister for the hundredth time that day (hoping that maybe she'd be awake and able to play).

Scrambling up, Klaus nodded at the young boy. Then there was a moan from the bed. Not of pain, but of someone just waking up after a long nap. They both turned and saw that Selene was sitting up, looking utterly confused. Galvin squealed in excitement and ran over, giving her a big hug and chanting "You're awake! You're awake!" Then he ran off shouting that he "had to go get mama!"

"What does he mean, I'm awake? And, um, why are you in my room…?" Her confusion only increased with her noticing Klaus' presence.

"Oh…about that…" Klaus began awkwardly.

Galvin ran back in with his mother in tow, who gasped and started crying, immediately going over and embracing her adoptive daughter. Selene patted the woman awkwardly on the back, "This may sound a little strange, but can someone please fill me in on what's happened since I went to bed…? I'm quite lost…"

Cynthia dove into an explanation of what had happened since the fire several days ago. "We thought you were dead with he came back carrying you! But you were sleeping, as I've told you, and for some reason, you're awake now! How, I don't know. But you're awake!" Selene had listened to the whole thing in silence. She thought it over.

"Magic sleep, hmm? What, in legends wakes people from those?"

"True love's kiss!" Cried Galvin, getting excited.

Klaus froze, face turning red again. The other three looked at him, one excited (Galvin), one interested (that'd be Cynthia), and the last one turning red.

"It was an accident!" He defended, "I-I didn't mean to...uh...er…"

Cynthia smiled, "But it woke her. Am I right in guessing that you've fallen in love with her?"

He looked down at his shoes and nodded. Cynthia smiled, nodding happily. Selene's already red face was now completely crimson as she looked down at her fingers as, twisting them awkwardly.

"Great. When's the wedding then?" Said a voice from the doorway, and everyone looked over to see Percy leaning against the doorframe, "I think Mother will be pleased."

Klaus glared, blushing furiously at his brother, cursing him to the next dimension for being so embarrassing.


	9. La Belle Et La Bête (2016)

Another Fairytale chapter! Mostly because I got stuck and lost my train of writing somewhere around chapter 44! So, I decided to be productive and force myself through that bit later—I know what I want to happen afterwards, but I'm having a little trouble getting there. But I'll get there eventually, so don't worry! :) Oh, and the character named Maxence is solely for the purpose of this spin off and won't actually exist in the actual story, just an FYI! And I'll be borrowing something from Vincent's route towards the end of this, too. In the meantime, enjoy!

* * *

La Belle Et La Bête (2016)

She gazed through the ornate iron-wrought gate to the forbidding castle beyond. Her long, dark blonde hair spilled from the edges of the cloak's hood, her light red mouth was set in a determined look. It was a dreary, overcast morning, and misty fog had started to gather, swirling around her ankles as she took a step towards the gate, pulling her worn cloak around her tighter. She hated this sort of weather—regardless of how appropriate it was for what she was here to do.

She was taking the place of her two-year-old nephew as a captive.

Her older brother, a merchant, had gotten lost on the way home from the town where he'd been selling goods in. It was on a day far more foggy than this one. He wouldn't of dared it, but he needed to get home to his wife, whom the healer said would be going into labor any day now. But he'd taken the wrong path, and come across a castle. This one. He'd decided to see if the residents would let him stay, so he wouldn't become more lost and waste more time.

Yet, there wasn't, seeming, anyone there. When he entered, he'd been led around by silent shadows, taken care of by unseen people. The next morning, when he had to leave, he noticed gorgeous rose bush with golden blooms, the like of which he'd never seen before. There were several of these bushes, and each was laden with flowers. He thought to take one back to his wife as an apology for not being back sooner, and reasoned that there were enough that one wouldn't be missed.

But as soon as he cut the flower from its plant some great power froze him in place as a growling voice boomed around him.

"WE'VE SHELTERED YOU. WE'VE TAKEN CARE OF YOU. AND YOU REPAY OUR KINDNESS WITH THIEVERY?" The voice howled, "TAKE YOUR FLOWER—BUT YOU MUST REPAY US. YOU MUST SEND ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN AS RETRIBUTION. IF THEY DO NOT ARRIVE BY THE NEXT NEW MOON, YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY WILL PERISH!"

The spell over him broke, and he ran. When he made it back to the village, he couldn't bare to tell his wife, who was exhausted from giving birth. He confided in his little sister, sixteen-year-old Selene. He was heartbroken—he would have to send Galvin, his oldest son, or everyone in his large family (he had six brothers, each with families) would die.

"No, Jonny. You will not send Galvin." Selene stated.

He looked at his sister, eyes full of pained sorrow, "What else am I to do? I cannot send a newborn!"

"You will not send a newborn or a two year child. I will go." She declared.

"But you are not my child, sister!"

"I might as well be. I may not be your child by birth, but you raised me. A parent is the one who raises you, are they not? I will go. After all, I've no spouse or children to leave behind. I am going. You will not argue." Selene was young, yes, but she wasn't easily daunted. "Besides, I'm of little use here. My magic is unpredictable and wild whenever I attempt to use it. I cannot act the proper lady, and I despise the one person who constantly chases after me." She shuddered at the thought of Maxence, the man who'd been trying to get her to agree to marry him. He was one of those men who liked the thought of having a spirited wife to break, like some sort of wild horse—but her brother's knew none of Maxence's true personality, and only saw the charming man who wished to wed their little sister. But her brother's loved her and wouldn't force her into a marriage. Selene refused to acknowledge his advances. "I will go. I will leave soon; the new moon is only a few nights away." And Selene refused to change her mind.

So here she stood, at the gates to her voluntary prison. She carried only a small sack with some food and a change of clothes, dull green cloak wrapped around her. "Hello?" She called, a mere foot from the gate, "I am here to fulfill the requirements set by the master of this house, due to the error of the merchant man, Johnathan, who was here some days ago. Tonight is the deadline—there is no moon left to lighten the sky."

The gate before her creaked open, so she entered. It creaked shut behind her. She inhaled carefully as she approached the vast castle before her. She noted mentally that it could use a good cleaning, though the ivy vines that climbed it probably would look beautiful on a sunny, clear day. She was glad to have something to think of, something not dreadful.

Because for the past day and a half of the journey, she'd been prevented any sleep for thoughts of her fate. Jonny said the voiced sounded like some sort of monster—would she be eaten? Kept as a slave? Left to rot in a dungeon? In her mind, all of those possibilities were equally likely, it seemed.

She made it to the large door, and reached a single, calloused hand and gripped the door knocker, lifting it and lowering it twice before letting it go. She withdrew her hand into the warm(er) folds of her cloak and waited. The door opened, and as she stepped in, she couldn't see anyone. Had the door opened on it's own? Was it because of a haunting from a ghost, or was it due to magical means? She beat back her curiosity—there'd be plenty of time for it if she liv...BANG! The heavy door behind her slammed and she jumped from the sudden noise that seemed very out of place in this deathly silent place, the only other noise the beating of her heart.

"Hello?" She said gently, trying not to wince as it echoed through the large entrance room. Hearing nothing but herself, she shrugged and decided to walk forward. Out of the corner of her eye, something moved, and she whirled to see a shadow zipping out of sight. She hurried to follow it, moving quickly yet quietly—her cloak fluttered back, revealing, not a dress, but trousers and a loose shirt. She followed the shadow as best she could through a few hallways, and it led her to a room, a sitting room from the looks of it. There were a few overstuffed chairs and most importantly, in her mind, a large fire behind the grate. Glancing around and seeing no one, she made her way to the fire, and knelt before sticking her chilled hands as close to the grate covering the fire as she could. The warmth felt glorious. The fire itself wouldn't burn her—the heated metal grate was another matter. A single flame trickled through the grate and wove its way around her fingers. She giggled softly—it tickled.

"You are the tribute? You look far too old to be that man's child." Something growled behind her. She froze.

"Are you the master of this place?" She asked, voice even. Inside though, something akin to what could be fear twisted nervously. She began to turn around when…

"DO NOT!" It commanded, "Do not turn around!" She froze again, and the little flame decided it should go rejoin the main body.

"Are you the master of this place?" She repeated, making sure nothing showed in her voice.

"I am. And you shouldn't be here."

"I am the tribute. The man, my oldest brother, Johnathan, raised me. I never knew my father and my mother died when I was young. My brother took me in, raised me. He is the closest thing to a father I have. I came in place of his actual sons. They are too young to be punished for anyone's wrong—one is only two summers, the other a newborn babe. And you cannot blame my brother. I refused to let him send anyone else. I am here for anything you wish." The slightest tremble entered her voice at those last words was due to the return of the awful thoughts of what could happen to her, and she hoped that whoever, or _what_ ever stood behind her hadn't heard it.

"Remove your hood." The voice was deep, and there was something almost feline about it, something that reminded her of the big cats, the cougars and the pumas she could hear when she joined her brothers in a night hunt. She slowly brought her hands up and pulled back her hood. She had left her hair unbraided, so it could act as sort of a makeshift scarf against the weather. She put her hands under it and pulled it free from beneath the collar of her cloak, letting it fall down her back. Her scatterbrain, which thought of the most random things at the worst times, reminded her she needed a haircut.

"I am sorry," She said, "if this doesn't fulfill the exact terms you set, but I refuse to let a little child be separated from his mother and family. Besides, wouldn't a person capable of performing tasks be more useful than a toddler? I can do any chores or tasks you wish me to do, or die trying."

"There are servants for the chores." It snapped. "As for you…"

"Might I turn around?" She suddenly asked, standing up but still facing the fireplace.

"What?" It spluttered, confused.

"I'd feel much better if I might face the one deciding my fate." She stated, banishing any trace of fear from her tone. And without having further ado, she turned around.

She gazed, wide-eyed at the creature before her. It was a male, certainly, wearing fancy clothes that had seen better days. The creature was halfway between a lion and a man. But his eyes, for sure, were human. And they had a look of worry as they both stood frozen, looking at one another. Did he think she'd panic and run at the sight of him?

Then Selene spoke, "How peculiar. I've never seen purple eyes before. They're rather pretty."

The worried look was gone, replaced with a bored, indifferent look that betrayed none of his thoughts. "Is that all?" He'd seen many beauties in his time, but none quite like this one. Noble woman were usually very fair skinned and pale, wearing fancy gowns and jewellery—this girl, who couldn't be more than fourteen, outshined any he'd ever met, with sun-kissed golden skin, blonde hair that appeared to be in different shades, again most likely from the sun, and wore worn trousers and shirt: men's clothing. The only trinket she wore was was a necklace, it's charm a hand-carved wooden sun. And if she'd never seen purple eyes, he'd never seen eyes like hers. Grey eyes, yes, but eyes that looked like silver? With flecks of gold and bronze? Never. They looked perceptive and intelligent too, something too many women were't. He kept these thoughts to himself. "Follow me."

Without a word, she followed him through hallways, up several staircases, one of which was winded upwards, into some sort of tower. Was she to be thrown off a tower? The pessimistic part of her wondered. They stopped at the top, where he pulled out a key ring and put one into the lock of the door. He pushed it open. "Go inside."

"Okay." She said, doing as he told her. It was a room, she discovered, one far nicer than the one she grew up in. The lion man didn't enter.

"You are not to leave this room until summoned." The door was shut and she heard footsteps leaving. So she wasn't to die—yet.

If she wasn't going to die, she might as well catch up on some sleep.

…. …. ….

She woke the next morning with a clap of thunder. She shouldn't have been surprised—it was spring, the rainy season. That didn't mean she had to like it. She looked around the room as false daylight lit up and faded. There was no way to tell the time. It was chilly in the tower. She noticed a fire grate on one side. Maybe…

She slid out of the bed, her bare feet whimpering silently at the touch of the cold stone floor. Making her way over to the fireplace, she spotted wood stacked near it, with a bucket of wood shavings next to it. She built a stack of wood that would allow sufficient air to fuel it (she was no amature when it came to making fires) and put a small pile of wood shavings in the center. She took a breath. "Concentrate. Concentrate. You can do this." She muttered, reaching out a hand. She snagged a little energy from inside her and pushed it out through her fingertips, aiming at the wood shavings.

And then was blown back as the fire burst into life. She sighed as she got her wind back and shrugged. She hasn't destroyed anything, for once, and now she had a cheery fire that was quickly warming the air, if not the floor. Getting knocked onto her bottom was sufficient cost for almost successfully using her wild magical gift. Back home, there were several people who had magic, but they had magic that was more normal, easier to control. Hers was as rampant as the only element she could use. No one knew how to help her, and whenever she used it it tended to explode and burn everything. She didn't use it often, to say the least. And when she dare attempt it, she only used the smallest amount possible—just think, if the little thread of her power lit the fire like it did just then, think of how much a small handful would do? Boom.

She decided to poke around the room. Why not? She found clothes in the wardrobe, all nice dresses far prettier than most of anything from her home village. Blech. There were also thing that went with these dresses. Everything also seemed to be in her size, strange enough. It might have frightened anyone who hadn't known magic.

"This whole place must be saturated with magic." She mused. "Down to the very foundation. Why not? It surely seems so. Oh, I do wish I was as good at sensing magical residue as Inan is!" She changed into the spare set of clothes she'd brought, though. She just wasn't the biggest fan of dresses. Trousers allowed much more movability and were far more comfortable.

Her stomach rumbled. It must be close to dawn, then. She dug in her bag and took stock of her food. There wasn't tons, but she could maybe make it last two meals. She split it in two parts and ate one half. She could've eaten it all with room to spare, but she wasn't sure when she'd be allowed out. Sure, she might be daring and bold, but why unnecessarily anger an entity of unknown powers?

…. …. ….

She was bored. Bored. BORED. She'd been sitting in the room all day. It wasn't thundering anymore, but it was still raining a decent amount. She only knew it was nearing the evening because her stomach was rumbling. Again. She was near starving. If only she had _something_ to do...why didn't she think to bring something from her house? Any of her books, a notepad, _something_? Oh, that's right. She was sure she was going to die in some horrible, ghastly way. Curse her overactive imagination. At this rate the only fate she was going to have was death by boredom. She kept contemplating leaving the room. But when she tried the door, it was unlocked. Crap. Now there wasn't anything to stop her except determination not to fall into that temptation. She left the door closed. Perhaps she'd be summoned at some point soon.

There was a scratching sound on the door. Huh? Going over, she slowly and carefully turned the handle before opening the door ever-so-slightly.

It was a cat.

…. …. ….

He was in the highest tower of the castle. It was on the complete opposite side of the building from the next highest—the one where _she_ was. She irritated him. There had been several people who'd come to this place since _it_ happened. Only a few of those had seen him, yet all of them had been terrified. As they should be—he was a monster. But _she_ didn't do anything but comment on his eyes. Not the fangs the were slightly visible, not the fur covering his skin, but his eyes of all things. His _eyes_. This girl was strange, very strange.

But the conditions of the curse still held. He couldn't change them, and to go against them would be catastrophic. He sighed.

…. …. ….

The cat was a very golden blond color. But it was the purple eyes that were so curious to Selene. Opening the door, the cat walked right in, tail in the air and looking very regal. It went and hopped onto the bed, sitting and watching her. She tilted her head, "Well, I'd say this is strange if it weren't for the fact that all cats are strange creatures." She laughed airily, going and sitting next to the cat. "At least I can actually talk to something without seeming crazier than I already am. So where did you come from, friend?"

It just studied her with those peculiar eyes.

"Of course, you can't answer me, but it's polite to try." Selene said with a shrug, leaning back onto the bed and starting at the ceiling..

— _Who said I couldn't answer? Don't just assume things._ — deadpanned a more young male voice.

She bolted up, looking wide-eyed at the cat, "I'm not Katalina. I should not be able to understand the animal." She said simply, "I'm going mad—more mad, really—aren't I?"

— _No. You're not._ — it, he?, sighed. — _And I'm not exactly a cat, thank you._ —

"What are you then, a constellation?*" Selene asked. By now, Selene realized he was talking in her head with telepathy or whatever it was.

— _That is not correct either. I'm human._ —

"You sure don't look it."

— _Of course I don't. I'm under a curse._ —

That was interesting, "What sort of curse? Did you get on the wrong side of some witch? Stole from her garden, perhaps? Or was it that fellow I met yesterday, who's got the same eyes as you do?"

— _No and no again. I'm not really allowed to tell you. Only one person is, and I'm not that person. I'm really just here to tell you that you should get dressed in proper attire, or you might not be invited to have dinner._ —

"But I am dressed."

It hopped off the bed in one graceful cat-leap and rubbed up against the wardrobe.

"You can't be serious."

— _If you want dinner, assume I'm serious. If you want to go hungry, I'm completely pulling your leg._ — he said in a flat voice. Then he left through the door, which shut behind him, without saying a single goodbye.

"Cats," Selene muttered, "whether they were once human or not, they're all cryptic." She sighed and got up, going to the wardrobe and opening it. "This is why I prefer dogs."

…. …. ….

True to the word of the cat, a while later, after she figured out how to get on that wretched contraption of a dress—a simple pale grey one she'd found, which laced itself up (too tightly, in her opinion, but she couldn't get it to loosen itself—and dragged a comb on the vanity through her hair (which she promptly twisted up into a bun, too keep it out of her face), a knock came on the door. She opened it, yet there was no one, not even that cat-that-claimed-it-was-human, there. There was that shadow she'd followed the previous night that was disappearing at the end of the hallway. She sighed, "I suppose this is my summons." before hurrying off after it, glad she was wearing her comfortable shoes that she'd come in, and not one of those pinchy fancy things that were neatly aligned at the bottom of the wardrobe.

She was led by the shadow—it was a man's shadow, she decided, because it was far too big to be a woman's—to a large dining room that looked out of a storybook, all big and grand, with a total of sixteen chairs. Every place was set at the long table. But only two had a glass: one at each end. She slid into one of those two seats, the one that was smaller than the other. There, she sat in a very—in her mind, at least—ladylike position, waiting. For what? Who knew. The lion-man, perhaps. The one she'd met last night. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know his name. She'd have to remember to ask.

There was a creak and she turned. There stood Leo, as she decided to call him in her head until she knew his name. He briskly went and sat at the other end of the table. After a quick snap of his fingers, dishes of food began streaming into the room, as if carried by invisible servants. This guy wasn't kidding when he said there were servants.

"Woah…" She whispered, "This must be some serious magic!"

Either he didn't hear her or he ignored her. Either way, he didn't respond. The magical floating plates settled themselves in perfect places. Leo reached and began putting things on his plate. Shrugging, Selene followed suit, filling her plate. "This isn't like those stories where if I eat something from here that I'll be trapped forever, is it?" She asked.

He looked up, indifferent. "That's up to you."

"Okay then. Thank you for the food~!" She clapped her hands twice. She'd picked that up from a friend from a foreign country. While her hometown was small, it had all sorts of people pass through. It was located midway though the Elwood, the old, huge expanse of forest that took up maybe at least a third of the country. There was only one definite path through it, and only her village was on it, in the dead center, surrounded by the magical forest. She thought she got a strange look from Leo, but she was used to strange looks. She was a strange girl, which she knew very well.

They ate in silence, for the most part. But Selene's curiosity got the best of her. "I never quite caught your name."

"That's because I didn't tell you." Was the gruff reply.

"Well, I'm Selene Celeste. Might I inquire as to your name?" She mimicked a high-class (in her mind) lilt.

"Klaus." Was all he said.

"It's nice to officially meet you, Sir Klaus." She withheld snickers as he rolled his eyes. "Can I ask a question?"

"May I." he corrected with a sigh, "you just did."

"I'll take that as a yes. Are you under some sort of curse? I met a cat earlier that claimed he was human, a human under a curse, but he said he couldn't tell me any more than that."

Klaus froze, fork halfway to his mouth. He slowly set it down. "There are no cats in this place. There are no animals near this place." While his voice sounded certain, his eyes told a different story.

"Well, you clearly know something."

"I don't have the faintest idea of what you're talking about."

"I'm many things. A moron is not one of those things." She insisted, "You know _something_. You can't deny it, not after the way you froze like that."

"And why should I trust you to know anything, hmm?" He retorted calmly.

"Because I'm going to trust what you say."

He was silent. "Just eat your dinner."

Selene sighed, "Eventually I'm going to figure it out, whether you tell me or not. Might as well tell me soon before it becomes later." And she went back to eating with gusto.

After they'd eaten, he said she could go back to her room.

"If I'm going to be stuck in my room, might I have something to do? A book, or mending, or a notepad, something? Anything?" She begged, "Elsewise I might be tempted to wander.".

"Something will be sent up." He replied curtly as she got up. She smiled at him and was about to skip to the door before she remembered she was in skirts and would most likely just trip and fall on her face if she did. So she just walked. She reached out and touched the door to leave. Instead, she got a shock and was blown unto her tush.

"Oww! Stupid door! What was that for?" She shook a fist at the door.

It won't let her leave unless _that_ question is asked, sighed Klaus mentally. "Would you marry me?"

Selene, who had gotten up and was about to kick the door, turned, "Pardon?"

"Would you marry me?"

She looked confused, "Marry? What? Umm, well, seeing as I escaped getting married by coming here, no…" she sounded uncertain of what was going on.

"Try the door now."

She did, and it opened without shocking her. She shrugged and went out, the door closing by itself behind her. She spotted that shadow again and hurried off after it, the question she'd been asked having left her mind.

…. …. ….

The next few weeks progressed similar to that first day. She'd spend the day in her room (there were things that appeared outside her door for her to do, and she also kept in shape by doing all sorts of stretches and exercises you can do in smaller spaces), with a breakfast and lunch magically left outside her door; then she'd go to dinner, after having dressed into one of those dresses, with Klaus. After dinner, he'd always asked the same question, to which she answered the same reply. In her mind, it had to be some sort of passcode to nullify the door's shocky-powers. She had no clue it was a key to something far bigger, of course. What kind of story has all the answers in the beginning, after all? A lame one, maybe. On a side, note, she was asked this question every night after they ate dinner, before she left to go back to her room.

Eventually, the rains began to quiet as spring neared its close. Selene requested to be able to go out onto the grounds, at the promise of not leaving. She hadn't forgotten the consequences of leaving. But, as it had turned out, this cursed fellow, Klaus, was actually not a half bad guy. He was really smart, and was good at conversing. At one point, he showed her the extensive library that was in the castle. Selene had never seen so many books in her life, and was awed. And when he gave her permission to use it as she pleased, she lit up and darted over to the shelves, immediately starting to look for books to read. He even began to help her learn to control her magic—he was a wonderful teacher. She was still scared to use it on her own, though, which was part of the reason it malfunctioned. If you fear your magic, it, like a horse, won't cooperate. She was allowed everywhere in the castle but the west wing and the ballroom, which she didn't mind. There were more than enough places for her to explore.

Selene also enjoyed the company of that cat, whose name turned out to be Elias. And that shadow that led her around? That was Percy. He couldn't do much in his form, and wasn't able to mind-speak like Elias, but he did lead her around and help her when she was lost. Neither of them were known to Klaus, from what she could tell. Klaus thought that, besides those magical, invisible servants, that he was the only one there. Elias also told her not to mention him and Percy to Klaus, for whatever reason.

But as the weeks went on, the Klaus and Selene spent more and more time together. Selene was happy and enjoyed being with her new friend (he may have been half lion, but you know what?—Selene didn't care so much about appearance)—but for Klaus it was a different matter. He'd fallen hopelessly in love with this maiden, this brave, hyper, curious maiden. This was new to him. He'd never fallen for anyone before, let alone so hard. But he didn't tell her. He couldn't tell her.

Selene talked all the time about her family, her brothers and their families. She told him about the dreaded Maxence, "He's nearly nine years older than me!" She had exclaimed, "In his mind, I'm a challenge. He wants to marry me sheerly so he can have the pleasure of breaking my spirit, like some rampant, wild horse! It's awful! He's wretched!" Upon learning this, Klaus was seething on the inside at this man he didn't personally know, and simultaneously glad that Selene was now here, with him.

But he could tell she was getting homesick. She was far from the home she'd always know, after all. But Klaus didn't want to let her leave. It was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't help it. He'd been alone for the longest time, and didn't want to let the one person who actually cared for him since the curse was put in place. There was a way she could see her home without leaving, though.

So one evening, after dinner and the question were asked, he stopped her from going to her room for the night, and told her he had something to show her.

"Ooo...is there a hidden room in the library? I'm convinced there is. I just haven't pulled on the right book yet." Her eyes glinted with curiosity. Klaus chuckled and shook his head, beckoning her to follow him. He led her to the tallest tower of the castle, up all the winding stairs. They wound up clockwise, which Selene mentioned. "I read somewhere that in castles they made the stairs in the towers go up clockwise so if they were attacked, a right-handed enemy wouldn't be able to attack because of the wall, but the defender would because it's reversed. Of course, it wouldn't work if the attacker or defender is a lefty, but most people aren't so it's pretty good logic. It makes sense, don't you think?"

"Indeed." Was his reply as they reached the top. Selene's legs, which were in very good shape, thank you, were burning with exertion from the long, steep climb. But since it wasn't to the point where they felt like jelly, she figured it was all right. "Come." She followed him into a room where most of the objects were covered in sheets. They weren't dusty, but one could tell that most had been there a very long time. Klaus led her over to one side of the room, and told her to stay, then went off, grabbed something, and then came back. He handed it to her. It was a mirror. The backing was silver, the outer edge gilded in strands of woven metal, some sort of gold and bronze with the occasional little silver flower woven into the design. Looking closer at those edges of the small circular mirror, which was no more than a foot in diameter, she noticed what was clearly words. She couldn't read them, but they were pretty.

"Is it magical?" Selene inquired, "It's certainly fancy enough, and I doubt you brought me here to let me see my reflection."

"Perceptive as always, I see." Klaus commented airily. "It's a mirror that allows you to see far away things. Scrying, in a sense."

"I thought scrying didn't exist…"

"I said 'in a sense'. It's more of a viewing glass than actual scrying. Touch the reflective part, and think of what you wish to see."

She lightly tapped the center of the mirror, and it rippled like water, making her gasp, "Cool!" When the ripples settled, the mirror no longer showed her mirror image, but the dining room in Jonny's house—the house she'd grown up in. It was packed with the adults in her family—seven brothers, six wives. She could hear some of her nephews' gleeful shouts coming from the open door.

Looking closer at her family, she froze when she noticed their heartbroken faces, Jonny's especially. He was crying. She'd never seen him cry, not since she was very little.

" _It's my fault._ " He moaned, his hand clutching his forehead, " _It's all my fault. I shouldn't of let her go. I should've gone instead!_ "

" _John, you couldn't have stopped her._ " That was Merlin, always a logical voice of reason, " _She's as stubborn as a mule and more determined than a hero on a quest._ "

" _I should have done more to try!_ " He howled, tears falling more freely. By now, several of the wives were crying too, as well as a few of the brothers. The others' faces were blank and stony.

" _Oh, darlin'_." Soothed Cynthia, the only woman not crying. But Selene knew she was close to from the tremble in her voice. " _There's nothing that can be done. You know her as well as I—she wouldn't want us to mourn her. She'd want us to be happy and remember her, while moving on with life. She hated seeing people upset, and if she knew she was the cause she'd appear as a ghost and scold you, you know that._ "

Jonny let out a bitter laugh, " _I do know that. That can't change how I feel or the fact that she's dead because of my mistake!_ "

Selene couldn't move. They...they…they thought she was dead! She could see why they would, but...but…

Klaus watched her gain a look he'd never seen her wear—panicked fear. He wasn't sure what she'd heard; no one but the holder can hear the words spoken in the image. "What's upset you so?"

"They...think I'm dead." She sounded hollow as she placed the mirror on a small covered table; and her tone scared him.

"But you're not. So why are you worried?"

"Because they don't know." She bit her lip and closed her eyes, "And it's painful to me, saddening. They're hurting because of me."

Klaus was astounded. This was a depth of love he hadn't seen before. And he was feeling pangs in his own heart because she was hurting. He sighed, "As long as you promise to return after a week's stay, you may go and let them know you are alive."

She looked up at him, wide-eyed, "You trust me enough to let me do that?"

"I do."

She looked determined, "Then I promise to return. I promise on the sun and stars and moon." Klaus knew that, for her, this was the greatest promise she made. She stood up and, all of a sudden, hugged him. He froze, unsure of what to do. Then hesitantly, he returned the embrace, holding her close. He had never dared be so near to her before. She was warm, and smelled wonderful. Who knew that having another person so close was such a thrilling feeling? He hugged her tighter, never wanting to let go.

Then he heard the quiet wince, and withdrew rapidly, putting a good distance between them, "You should go." He said, turning away. He heard her quiet goodbye as she left.

He'd hurt her. He was stronger than he thought he was in this form. And she wasn't as physically strong as she often came off. She was so fierce it was easy to forget she was merely a young woman.

…. …. ….

Selene looked back at the castle where she'd lived for the past several months. It'd been early spring when she arrived, dark, wet, and chilly. The castle had looked haunted and forbidding. Now, it was mid fall; bright, dry, and warm with the occasional chilled wind that promised a winter to come. The castle that had once looked a fright was now charming and welcoming. As sorry as she was to leave, she had to go, if only for a while. So she smiled as she left, content in the knowledge that she'd be back soon enough.

…. …. ….

She should have been back nearly a week prior. Klaus was starting to panic. What if she wasn't coming back? What if, once she reached her home, she decided not to leave? That she didn't want to come back? There wasn't much he could do—his magic was sealed while he was under the curse—since he gave her permission to leave. His permission freed her from the curse's effects, and if she never came back, there was nothing he could do. And that's what he was afraid of.

But she had promised she'd come back. Selene was a very honest person, to the point of occasionally being overly blunt. He trusted her.

But that trust didn't dispel his worries entirely.

Because she still wasn't back a week later.

And he was unable to see her in the magical mirror.

…. …. ….

Another week went by. The first winter storm was soon to strike, for winter tended to come early in this part of the world. Klaus hadn't left his tower in several days. He spent most of his time looking out the window, which provided a view as far as one can see into the forest from above, a good way up the trial that led to the grounds. Selene hadn't come back. He was losing hope as the dread of forever being alone again started to sink in. By the end of that week, he'd stopped looking.

But if he had looked, he'd've seen the tall, dark-haired man with secretive black eyes, with a sword strapped to his belt, a determined look, and murderous thoughts, making the trek down the path to the castle.

…. …. ….

It was just after sunset, which came early these days, when Maxence made it to the gate of the castle. He'd been lucky, to have been the first one to find young Selene as she was making her way back to the village. He'd knocked her out and immediately hidden her. The wench had run the very day he was to make his proposal! He'd been so mad when he found out that he had stomped off and broken several things before he reigned in his anger. But now, she had returned to tell her family she was alive. So he'd hidden her, and told her brothers that he was going to slay the beast that had killed their precious little sister, his future wife to be. He'd waited a few weeks, to try and convince Selene to just marry him, but she'd fervently refused, no matter if he threatened her, or even hit her. The worthless child didn't know her place. She'd eventually learn, but after she learned that this beast she'd fallen in love with. That alone infuriated him. He'd found out that she was in love with this creature—though she defended the monster with every breath and told Maxence that the thing was no monster, but an intelligent, kind person who was in every way Maxence's better by far—and was going to kill it. Then, perhaps, the brat would break and agree to his demands out of grief.

And if the beast was dead, he could reveal that Selene was alive, claiming he'd saved her, and would promise to "love" her despite the damage done to her mind. The girl had powerful magic, magic that could be drained and sold. Magic that would make him rich. He smiled, a tight, ugly smile. It didn't hurt that she was a beauty, too.

He climbed the gate—which refused to open, as snow began to fall from the sky. A surety that Selene wouldn't dare come after. Snow and cold weakened the brat, and she wouldn't dare even try and come after him. He doubted that she even had enough energy by this point to break the bonds that held her hidden.

And after he killed this beast, he'd have everything.

…. …. ….

Klaus sat slumped in a chair near the cracked window, facing the wall blankly. Who knew heartbreak would be so horrible? He'd accepted that she wasn't coming back. But still he hoped. He couldn't stop that little bit of hope that persisted in his chest. And the only thing that reminded him he was still alive was the chilled draft that poured through the crack in the window.

There was a bang and a crash as the heavy door flew open, knocking over something on the little table next to it—the magical mirror—shattering it. Glass shards flew all around the floor, leaving a glittering carpet. Klaus looked over apathetically at the noise. There stood a man with dark hair and enraged black eyes, "You." He said, sounding murderous, "You killed her!" Maxence had no doubt that slut would've told the beast who he was and spun all sorts of tales, so he decided to be safe and pretend to be one of her many brothers.

Klaus froze, "I...have killed no one."

"You caused Selene to die! You caused my sister to die! She came back to the village a few weeks ago, weak as a kitten in the spring, and collapsed, dead of fear and fright! You will die to make up for her death!" Maxence roared, drawing his sword.

Klaus froze, his soul feeling shattered, like the mirror on the floor. Selene...was dead...because of...him…

"Kill me then." Klaus said as he stood up, voice and face emotionless as the cracked stone which was now his heart. "Go on. I deserve it."

Maxence hesitated. He had expected to have to fight a monster, yet here the monster was, begging for death. He shrugged and approached, raising his sword to strike down the half-lion half-man creature. He thrust it forward, and it stabbed the beast in the chest, a few inches below the heart…

"NO!" came the shriek from behind him. A wave of heat washed through the room, knocking Maxence of balance. He released the sword, which was still in the creature, who was wide eyed and still at the sound of the new voice. Or the familiar voice, more like.

There in the doorway stood Selene, in a ragged dress and cloak, hair stringy and wet from the melted snow—it'd begun to blizzard outside—and face enraged. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screamed, charging the large man. She shoved him, and he stumbled, caught off guard. Maxence fell backwards, so far that he hit the large window, shattering it and falling through it. He started to yell as he fell, then it suddenly disappeared, too soon for him to have hit the ground. But Selene didn't care. She was to focused on the man who started to slump to the floor, the sword in his chest falling out and clattering on the floor.

She rushed over and caught him, easing his passage to the floor. Tears were streaming down her face. She pulled off her cloak and bundled it up, pressing it to the wound in his chest. "Klaus! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! Please don't leave me, please! I'll do anything if you just LIVE!" She cried, sobbing. "I'll marry you, I'll do whatever it takes! Just don't die on me, Klaus!"

There was a flash of light, and when it disappeared there was no longer the half-lion man lying there. It was a blonde, violet eyed man. Who still had a hole in his chest.

His vision was going fuzzy, but he saw two silver eyes, flecked with gold and bronze. They were filled with tears and puffy. He reached a hand up and touched her face. "You came back." he whispered.

She choked on a sob before answering, giving him a watery smile even as tears slipped down her cheek, onto his hand, "I promised I would, didn't I? It just took me a little while. Oh, Klaus...I'm so sorry...it's all my fault!"

"I got to see you again…" his voice was fading, "That's all I wanted…" He slipped into unconsciousness, but was still alive. Barely.

A shimmer caught her eyes, and she looked up. There stood a beautiful fairy in a blue gown with long blue hair and gossamer, sky-blue wings, and a tiara with a sapphire on her forehead. "Young one, you've broken the curse set upon this place. You've taught him love."

"I don't care about the stupid curse!" Selene wailed, "He's dying and it's my fault!" She was still pressing on the wound, but blood had covered her hands, having soaked through the cloth.

"There is a way to save him." The fairy said, "But it's a desperate person's spell."

"I _am_ desperate!" she cried, "I'll do _anything_! Please!"

"Very well. I will bind your life forces." The fairy leaned forward, and plucked a gold and purple magical thread from the chest of Klaus and another, this one a shimmering silver, gold and bronze mix, from Selene's. Working quickly with smooth, graceful motions, she firmly tied them together. When she released it, they vanished. Selene gasped as the blood started to disappear, the when she pulled the cloak away, the wound was healing before her eyes. Soon, it disappeared entirely, not even leaving a scar. A few moments later, he grunted, propping himself on his elbows looking confused.

Selene started crying anew, and threw her arms around him, "You're alive!"

He looked startled, but returned her embrace, holding her close.

The fairy smiled and caught his eye, "That was the whole lesson of the curse I placed. You didn't understand love or compassion, and you were causing others to suffer for it. You've passed the test well."

The fairy started to fade, and Selene twisted in Klaus arms to face her. "I don't even know your name!"

"Brunhild."

"Thank you, Brunhild. Thank you."

The fairy smiled as she left, returning to the fairy world. "And don't worry about Maxence, he's going to get what's coming to him." Her voice said as she disappeared entirely.

"Well, it sure took you long enough, brother. It was getting boring, not being able to say anything. Shadows can't really speak." Came a voice from the open doorway.

"At least you had human form, Percy. I was stuck as a _cat_!" grumped a younger voice.

The two young lovers looked up and Selene laughed. That was definitely Elias' voice. "So it seems you two have become human again."

"Quite so. The rest of the family and the servants became visible as well. They were all in the ballroom when the curse went into effect, so they became frozen in time and invisible. I, who had just left and was outside the room, became a shadow. Elias, I believe was watching you interact with the fairy, who, as he told me, was disguised as the old woman. He got caught in the curse and ended up as a cat. From what I've gleaned, your form, Klaus, was to see if someone could love you despite it." He winked at Selene, "Good job, little sister. You've turned the Sir Stiff into a man again."

Selene blushed, realizing the position she was in, wrapped up in Klaus' arms. She tried to get up, but Klaus only tightened his arms. "It seems it's made you no less annoying, Percival, that time spent as a shadow." Klaus said airily. "Now, would you give us some privacy?"

"Hmm?!" Selene's eyes widened.

"Huh?" Elias looked confused, while Percy just looked amused.

"Sure thing, little brother. Come on Elias, let's go explain things to mom and dad. Plus, you probably don't want to be here."

"Why not?"

"Poor, little, innocent brother of mine." Percy sighed, leaning down and whispering something in Elias' ear. Elias flushed red. Percy slung his arm around his brother's shoulders and led him away, closing the door.

"Uh, what's he hinting to…?" Selene said nervously. Klaus turned her around promptly kissed her. "Mmph!"

"That I'm not going to let you go again." Klaus smirked, leaning his forehead against hers, "I learned my lesson." He kissed her again.


	10. Start of Summer 2016

Okay, this was originally something I typed up several months ago and was _going_ to post it next month as a 1 year anniversary special, but I typed up something better for that purpose and just decided to post it. Oh, and the "Future Families Guide" will be a helpful reference. This short story here takes place before the prologue of Elemental by about a year.

* * *

The group of Wizardess Heart couples (Myula/Terran AU or whatever it is) are having a big get together! That means 7 wives/mothers, 7 husbands/fathers and a grand total of 21 children ages 1 to 14. They're at the main Goldstein Estate (Courtesy of Percival, the eldest Goldstein brother) due to the fact that it's really the only place big enough to fit everyone comfortably…

The fathers and all the mothers except Selene are sitting at a large round table outside while Selene is playing games (Mostly Terran, think with the children—except Temperance, Leon, Rosa, and Yukiya Jr (the first three are coloring at a small table, and the last one is sleeping in his mother's lap). Everyone chats cordially and is enjoying themselves. Only, Philyra notices something's off.

* * *

Start of Summer Special (2016)

"Klaus." Philyra gazes at him curiously.

"Uh, yes?" He responds, taken a bit a back. Philyra's been all but silent, happy to listen to everyone.

"Why is it every time you and Selene meet eyes, she looks away with a huff?"

"I noticed that to." Elaine and Katalina say at the same time. They look at each other and giggle.

"Yeah, why is that?" Serge, who was across the table from Klaus, leaned in, grinning.

"She's sulking." He stated, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"Sulking? Why'd she be sulking? What'd you do?" Zelia says accusingly.

"It's nothing more than Selene being Selene. She does this occasionally."

"Lies!" Selene had suddenly appeared behind him, and he jumps. He turns and glares at her, warning her to stop. "He won't let me ha…" He covers her mouth, effectively muffling what she was going to say. She squirms, trying to break free. It was in vain.

"Daddy won't let Rosa have a little brotder or sishter!" Rosa piped up from the table.

"Huh?" They all say, and Rosa repeats herself and promptly goes back to coloring.

Aurora, who had overheard all of this, walks over and translates, "What she means is Father won't let momma have another baby." A round of "oh"s goes around the table, and Klaus glares at his now-smug wife.

"You put them up to that, didn't you?" He wipes his hand on his pants—she'd licked it to get it off of her mouth, something that she'd always done to get on his nerves when he was covering her mouth. It happened far too often it seems...

"Maybe, maybe not." Then she turns away from him, chin in the air, eyes closed, arms folded. "I'm still not talking to that person. Not until he gives in."

Everyone is laughing at these two.

"Woman, we have enough children already!" Klaus argues. "Is _nine_ not enough?!"

"No." she hmphs stubbornly. "I want another!"

"You already act like a child, does that not count?" He sighs.

"No!"

As they continue to bicker, the children start gathering, summoned by the laughter at the adults table. A few of the older ones, mostly Selene's older ones, figure out what Selene and Klaus are arguing about and start up a chant: "Baby! Baby! BABY! BABY!...," which the other kids join in on, making the other adults laugh even harder. At this point, Klaus' face is red from frustration and embarrassment as Selene refuses to give in and "act [her] age!"

Eventually, Klaus roars for everyone to shut it. An uneasy silence prevails, and everyone looks at him, some curiously, some a little scared, but Selene still refuses to look at him. He then, to everyone's surprise, hoists her over his shoulder, making her yelp in surprise, and stomps off. Selene shrugs, props her elbows up on his back, and waves to everyone.

"ELIAS! You're in charge of my munchkins!" she shouts.

The adults all look at each other. "When will Klaus learn that Selene _always_ gets her way in the end?" Marelda snickers. Everyone laughs in agreement.


	11. 1 Year Anniversary (2016)

Honestly, I had fun researching the dances mentioned in this. How well do you think I fit the dances with the couples in this one? Let me know.

* * *

1 Year Anniversary Special (2016)—Dancing Lessons

The academy's annual Start of Summertime dance was fast approaching. Selene, while talking to the other girls, Katalina, Philyra, Marelda, and Zelia, learned that not all of them knew how to formally dance. Zelia, coming from a noble family, knew how, but Katalina only knew the country dances from her village's festivals—Philyra and Marelda new none. Philyra because she'd never been able to, and Marelda because she had never cared and had been focused on other things.

And Selene, being Selene, decided that they should take a day to learn something about this sort of thing, and reserved the school's smaller ballroom—definitely big enough for the purpose. She then proceeded to put the five girls (herself included in that number) in long skirts—"What's the point of practicing," she had said, "if it's completely different from when you actually have to do it?"—much to Philyra and Katalina's delight, and to Marelda's pouting.

"I don't even want to go." She grumped, "I don't see why you're making me do this."

"Why Marelda!" Selene cried, "Are you saying you _don't_ want to be able to dance with Luca?"

Marelda promptly turned red, "What's that got to do with anything?!"

"Oh, think of just how disappointed poor Luca will be," Selene said slyly to the other three girls, who nodded in agreement, "He'll pout for a month if he doesn't get to dance with his darling girl!"

"Fine!" Marelda shouted, much to the giggles of the others, "Just shut up about it already!"

So, after getting everyone into the proper skirts (and heels, for some of them—Katalina, Philyra, and Selene were a good deal shorter than their partners, while Zelia was just the right dancing height for Serge's height, and Marelda was actually a little taller than Luca, and much to her relief, didn't have to wear anything more than flats), Selene dragged them to the ballroom, where their practice partners were waiting for them. Serge had been her advocate in getting the guys ready.

When they walked in, Serge was practically bouncing off a wall in excitement, Luca grinned roguishly at the sight of his girlfriend in a skirt, which she pretty much never wore, Yukiya stopped tugging at the bowtie someone had tied around his neck, Elias did his best to keep a blank face, while Klaus just looked openly bored.

She nudged the girls forward, "Have fun!" and skipped over to Klaus (how she skipped in four inch heels is beyond me), grabbing his arm and pulling him on the dance floor, before saying in a most cheery manner, "Come on boys! Stop gawking! You all need to teach them at least one ballroom dance before tonight! The ball is only next weekend! Go, go!"

She whispered at Klaus, "Is the spell in place? The one that'll make them hear whatever music goes with the dance they're trying to learn?" It was a brilliant spell, actually, that Serge had helped in the creation of—it plays whichever type of song the leader of the dance was thinking of.

Klaus sighed and nodded, "What I don't see is why we need to be here. I know we both know how to dance, and quite well, might I add."

Selene put on a fake pout-face, "Are you saying you don't want to dance with me?"

A second passed and he grabbed her wrist, twirling her into him, "I didn't say that, now did I?" With his free hand, he flicked his wand and uttered a short incantation. Music began to play, startling a few of the others in the room. What Selene heard was the…

"Tango?" she giggled as he smirked, "Why, you rascal! ...Let's do this." And they started off.

Meanwhile, in the other parts of the room, Elias was explaining the Waltz to Katalina, who kept stumbling and stepping on his feet and making Elias' face glow redder every time she fell into him.

"Come on, Katalina, it's not _that_ hard…" Elias winced as she stepped on his foot again.

"Oh! Sorry!" She cried. She looked down again at her feet, trying not to yet again repeat the toe-stepping.

"No! Don't look down! You'll make it worse!"

"Sorry!"

"Careful! It's a 1-2-3 1-2-3 pattern."

"Ah!"

"Ow! My foot!"

"S-sorry!"

Yukiya, several feet away, was leading a giggling Philyra through the slow-slow-quick-quick steps of the…

"What's this called?" Philyra asked, looking up at him.

"The Foxtrot." Yukiya responded with a small smile.

"Oh, what a cute name!" She giggled. "It's not to hard, either, not like what Zelia and Serge are doing…"

Indeed, the aforementioned two were laughing freely as they went slow-quick-quick through the faster and more complicated version of the Foxtrot, the Quickstep.

"They look like they're having so much fun, don't they Yuki?" Philyra smiled.

"They do." Then he added, "But when don't they?"

"True." She giggled again.

In fact, they were having so much fun that Zelia nearly ran into Marelda and Luca before she noticed they were there.

"Oops! Sorry! Don't mind us!" Zelia called, directing her and Serge into a more open part.

Marelda sighed, muttering, "Those two would dance themselves straight off a cliff."

"Aw, is my Marelda jealous?" Luca raised a teasing eyebrow. He and Marelda weren't really doing an actual dance, but were stepping slowly from one side to the other. Marelda was completely stiff, while Luca was just happy that Selene actually managed to get her here.

"As if!" She sniffed. "Why would I want to dive off a cl...wah!"

Luca had suddenly gripped her hand and spun her around, then tipped her back with his other arm around the curve of her back, he leaned forward, dangerously close to her.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" She yelped, trying to squirm away.

Luca pouted, "Do you not like me or something?"

"I-I never said that!" she cried, her face completely flushed beneath her tan.

"Then just go with it." He began rapidly leading her through steps that swept her across the floor in the graceful turns and spins of the Viennese Waltz. She wasn't even sure how, but she wasn't falling over her own feet. "A natural, it seems." He murmured in her ear, making her flush again.

"Shut up!"

For the next while, everyone enjoyed themselves (whether they'd admit it or not). Selene and Klaus had switched to a slower, more relaxed dance, and were watching the others.

"I daresay, Klaus, that this has been a success, wouldn't you agree?" Selene sighed happily, leaning her head on his chest.

"Whatever you say." He didn't even try to hide his smirk.

"Don't say that noncommittal crap, dear, we've been over this." She raised her head to give him a look.

"Whatever you say."

She thumped him on the chest, "Someone's had a little too much sassafrass today, hasn't he?"

"Whatever you say."

"Oh, hush up." She kissed him, effectively hushing him up.

The kiss was broken off when a crash and several yelps occurred. Selene pulled back and looked over to see that Elias/Katalina had collided with Luca/Marelda, and they were all in a heap.

"Pfft…" Selene tried to not laugh, she did.

She failed. And began laughing so hard Klaus, who was shaking his head, had to hold her up.

"Nice one, you four!" She choked out, "Good job!"


	12. Halloween 2016

Hey! It's the second Halloween short for Elemental! This one was a lot harder than the last one honestly...it took me forever to come up with what the heck to write...but it's done! I hope you guys like it! I am, however, posting this with the normal chapter. So it's probably not going to be super long like most of my previous holiday specials.

The language they speak throughout this special is Geolunan (even though I changed the country name to the proper spelling, I'm keeping the language to this because I'm lazy and I can).

Note: You might need to refer to Selene's Family Guide.

Also, after chapter 50-something of Elemental, Selene gets short hair. She literally wacks it off with a knife and her sister later fixes it into a pixie cut. In this short, her hair will be about halfway up her neck in the back and just brushing the tops of her shoulders in the front. Remember that.

Oh, and to see what Selene's pumpkin looks like, use this link (just remove the spaces first):

www. Thisoldhouse sites /default /files /styles /gallery_ slideshow /public /migrated /images /09- pumpkin- contest. jpg?itok =yaGdXG8w×tamp =1464282701

To see Klaus' pumpkin, use this link (again, after removing the spaces):

www. stretchingabuckblog wp-content /uploads /2013/09 /owl-pumpkin. jpg

* * *

Halloween Special 2016 (And let's just say that the Halloween is on a Saturday instead of a Monday)

Terran Traditions

"What in the world are you doing?" Klaus looked over at Selene as she walked in, a medium-sized pumpkin in each arm.

"Halloween's tonight!" She beamed at him, "Which means we're carving pumpkins! The rest of my family did it yesterday, but since we got in last night we missed it."

"You...carve pumpkins? That's strange." He said.

"Not really. It's a big thing in Terra. My family has the tradition of having one for each member. It was several to begin with, but now it's huge. We've actually had to start pre-ordering from one of the local farmers so that there'd be enough. And now, you get to make one, too!"

He raised an eyebrow, "That sounds ridiculously messy. And more trouble than it's worth."

"You just haven't tried it. But it can be a bit messy, so you'll have to change." She eyed his shirt, which was way to nice for something like this. Not to mention his dress slacks… "So unless you want to go without a shirt, I'll nick on from one of my brother's rooms. I'm personally fine either way."

He rolled his eyes, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"You bet." She winked at him, "You're definitely not hard on the eyes, my dear." She snickered and then skipped off to go search through her brother's things. Matthias', Matthew's, Inan's, and Merlin's things would be too small—none of them were as broad in the chest as Klaus was. That left Wade and Eric's things. Wade's would probably fit, but it'd be close. And Wade was that one brother who got really annoyed when people touched his things. In this big of a family, there had to be one. There wasn't much he could do seeing as he was in a different country (in a different dimension, actually), but still. Eric on the other hand...he wouldn't care as long as she washed it afterward. Eric's stuff it was, then.

She returned to the living room and tossed an old T-shirt and a pair of jeans ripped at one knee on Klaus' lap, "There you go. They might be a little big, but they'll fit."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, "Big? You're brother's aren't the biggest people—tall, most of them, yes, but not big."

"Those are Eric's. If I didn't know better I'd say that man is half giant." Selene pursed her lips, trying to suppress a smile.

"Ah."

"Now go change." Selene shooed him out of the room and went to the kitchen to set up. Normally when her family did it, they had to commandeer the Club Diner (refer to chapter 7.5) main room. But since it was just the two of them, the kitchen table would work. It was a rather large one, after all.

She had set up with a plastic tablecloth and a large metal bowl for the seeds and guts. She pulled various carving tools from various places around the kitchen and put them next to the pumpkins. She also dug around in the miscellaneous drawer and found a sharpie.

When Klaus walked in the room, she grinned, "Ready Freddy?"

He rolled his eyes, "Ready to make a mess, _sure_."

"The sarcasm isn't appreciated, bud." She stuck out her tongue before continuing, "Now, I've found the easiest way to start is to either draw a picture freehand or use the spiky tracing tool thing to trace a picture. I think we'll just go freehand to save time. I'll let you know what to do next. And don't look at what I'm doing—I'm not going to look at yours. We'll show each other what they are at the end."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And don't you sass me boy!"

"Yes, mother."

"You may be a foot taller than me but I will not hesitate to put you over my knee young man!"

He chuckled, shaking his head. He took the marker she proffered him and uncapped it. He had no clue what to do.

"And it can be something simple, Klaus. Don't feel that it needs to be as perfect and amazing as mine will be—remember, I've been doing it since the age of four." Selene added, using the spiky tracing wheel on her own. Several minutes later, she explained how to go about carving the pumpkin.

…. …. ….

"Done!" Selene declared, turning around to face Klaus. "How's yours? Oh! That's so cute!" His was a little owl carving. "That's really good for a first time! And don't make a snooty compliment about how perfect you are—just take the compliment and move on, please."

He smirked, "What's yours look like?"

"A haunted carousel!" She said, "I saw a really cute picture on pintrest, and made my own version. It turned out really well!"

Klaus couldn't speak. How did she manage to do something so complex in such a short time? So many details…

She grinned, "I love carving pumpkins, if you can't tell. Now, help me separate all the seeds from the guts. We're going to bake them!"

"Bake them? Don't you just throw them away?"

"No, silly!" Selena chided, "That's a waste of good snack food! And both know how I hate wasting food."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "No, Selene, I don't think I do know. Don't you love wasting food?"

"Watch the sass, buddy!" She wiped her pumpkin-juice covered hand on his cheek. He jerked back, his own hand snapping up to grab hers. He pulled her and tipped her back, leaning forward so his face was near hers.

"Did you honestly think you could get away with that?" His voice became lower than normal.

"Nope." She put free hand behind his neck, pulling him in for a quick kiss. When she pulled back, she gave him a cheeky grin. "I knew what you'd do. I'm more clever than you give credit for." He had a slight flush across the tops of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. "It's so much fun to surprise you, Klaus. You get all cute and flustered."

His eyes narrowed, "I do, do I?" He backed her up to the counter, and she yelped when he lifted her onto it. "Let's see how you like surprises."

He didn't even try to be gentle when he pushed his lips to hers. His hand was tangled in her hair—which was just long enough for him to weave his fingers through—pulling it taunt. His other hand was holding both of her hands behind her back, pressing them into the curve. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she kissed him back (as best she could with her hands and head held in place).

"A-a-aunt Se-sele-lene?" Came the stuttered voice of a three year old cutie. "W-where are yo-ou? Mama ne-needs your gu-guyses pum-umkins."

Klaus jolted back and Selene slid off the counter. Both tried to control their flushed faces and breathing as a three-year-old Daren toddled into the room, all bundled up in a puffy coat with mittens. He looked up at his aunt and her boyfriend and tilted his head. "Y-you okay? Yo-your faces are r-r-red. F-fe-ver?"

Selene smiled, "No, hun, we don't have fevers. I tried to warm up the room with my magic and I warmed it a bit too much. The room cooled down, but we didn't cool so quickly."

"O-o-okay!" He smiled at her, "Mama w-wants the p-p-pumkins!"

"Sure thing, hun. Go tell Mama Ria that we're done and we'll bring them out to put with the rest. Can I trust you to do deliver this important message?" Selene looked at her nephew, completely serious.

His face lit up, "Y-yes!" He ran out of the room.

Selene smiled, "I know I'm should have favorites, but I daresay Daren's my favorite nephew. He's so completely adorable."

"You are a wonder."

She looked over at him, leaning back against the counter, "Pardon?"

"He nearly walks in on us and you're acting as if nothing happened. You even fed the kid a story—which he completely believed—and avoided getting caught at anything. How? Just...how?" Klaus shook his head.

"I'm…"

"And don't even dare say it's because you're magical."

She snickered, "You know me too well. But I guess that's okay. I'll start cleaning up in here, if you'll take the pumpkins out to where the rest of them are. It's just out in front of the house. I've no doubt Ria will direct you to where they'll go. Then come back and help me with this."

…. …. ….

Klaus came into Selene's room, up in the attic of the house, rubbing his damp hair with a towel. After making the pumpkin seeds, Klaus got called out to help one of Selene's bothers with something. By the time he was done, Selene had showered and gotten into her pjs—an old t-shirt that went to her knees (she stole it from one of her brothers, like with most of her pjs) and a pair of blue fluffy pants. Not to mention her slipper-sock combination things that looked like wolves.

And she had set a corner of her floor with various blankets and pillows, with various bowls of snack food within reach.

"What in this world are you doing?" Klaus sighed, hanging the towel on a doorknob.

"Creating the perfect movie-watching set up! I've picked out a few movies to watch while my family takes the littles trick or treating in town." She picked up a Terran device and set it up on a short table in front of the, "I borrowed Merlin's laptop so we could watch. He's already got it set up to where I can use it without getting frustrated. Plus, his laptop has the biggest screen out of the ones in this , come sit."

He raised and eyebrow, but sat among the cushioned objects. Selene plopped herself down between his legs and leaned back on his chest. She was just the right height so that Klaus could either look over the top of her head or lean on her shoulder. "Okay, first we'll be watching a more mild one, _Hocus Pocus_. I love this one. It's super cheesy, but it's so funny. Particularly since we know what real witches are like. After this, we'll watch some scarier ones, like _The Village,_ and _Sixth Sense_. Then, we're going to watch _Nightmare before Christmas_ to wind down." She turned on the screen of the device and clicked a few things. It started playing and she snuggled back into him, grabbing a bowl and pulling it into her lap. The opening credits began to play, and Klaus felt something press lightly against his mouth. He looked down and saw Selene's hand. He opened his mouth and she pushed a few pumpkin seeds into it. He chewed and swallowed.

"This batch turned out well." Selene whispered.

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "I think it's because you're magical."


	13. Thanksgiving 2016

Hey-O! I'm currently in Indiana at my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving! I've been having a lot of fun because she and her family moved back to the midwest this summer after living in California for four years. Before she moved, my family would go to her's for Thanksgiving every year, but we haven't been able to since I was in seventh grade (they moved that next winter), so it's nice to be able to do it again.

For all of my non-American/Canadian readers, I recommend you go look up Thanksgiving. It's a pretty much an American-exclusive holiday that involves a lot of preparation, family traditions, and food. Oh, and being grateful for what you have. Here, we've got Klaus in Terra with Selene for another holiday. This one a lot more chaotic than their peaceful All Hallow's Eve. Anyone who celebrates this holiday with a lot of family, or even just a big holiday with lots of family, will recognize this particular type of chaos.

And before you ask, it's it totally possible for there to be snow in November in Michigan. Even the lower peninsula. Heck, it snowed last Saturday (although it didn't stick). We can get snow as early as October and as late as April. It's crazy. Last Friday it was 60o fahrenheit (about 15.6o celsius), and it snowed/sleeted the next day. It's the lake effect, guys. It screws up any hope we have of predicting the weather here. It's why I don't trust the forecast more than a day or two out. XD

You guys also might need to reference Selene's Family Guide. Also, everyone is speaking in English (because Klaus did, in fact, learn English).

This isn't too terribly long, and there's not really much fluff (well, there's a little at the end), but eh. Enjoy. :)

* * *

Thanksgiving Special 2016

"Marie! How's the stuffing coming?" Selene called.

"Almost done!"

"Cynthia, the turkeys?"

"Not quite, about an hour more in the oven for both of them. Thank the sun this old house has two ovens."

"Sarah?"

"With the help of Galvin, fifteen freakin' pounds of mashed potatoes are done!"

"Awesome. And thank you, Galvin." Selene looked over her shoulder at Ria, "Pies?"

"All ready."

"Galena, Felicia, how about all the other random side dishes?"

"Done!" They said simultaneously.

"Awesomesauce! With the help of the littles, the table is set and the dining room is decorated. Let's get this finished up!"

Klaus stood in a separate room with all of Selene's brothers, listening to Selene as she kept the kitchen organized. "I'll never understand how she handles all that chaos. They've been in that kitchen for almost two days…"

Matthew laughed and slapped him on the back, "I'll tell you how. Our womenfolk are amazing creatures capable of feats we couldn't even dream of. I tell you, we've got it easy." And by easy he meant that all of the brothers, plus Klaus, had spent the last couple hours outside, manually cleaning and clearing the bonfire field, raking and picking up sticks. As well as cheating a bit and taking turns magicking bits of snow away (it had snowed earlier that week, and while most of it had melted, the bits that were hidden in the shadows hadn't). And the fire pit had been set up, with a bunch of chopped wood nearby. That's where they'd end the night.

"Don't forget we're the ones who get to do the dishes, Matt." Wade laughed, causing his brother to groan.

"Don't remind me!"

"It'll be worth it, though." Merlin laughed, "Has Selene ever made you her famous pumpkin-apple crepe cake?"

"No."

"Oh man, you're going to die and go to heaven tonight." Matthias snickered, "Just thought I'd warn you."

…. …. ….

The Pumpkin-Apple Crepe Cake _was_ divine. It became Klaus favorite dessert, much to the amusement of Selene's family and his tsundereish embarrassment when Selene started to coo over him. He wasn't his little brother, dang it! He shouldn't be cooed over—that's what his little brother was for, to draw the attention of the cooing woman (*cough*Selene*cough*His mother*cough*)!

But now they were all sitting by the bonfire, which, with a little help from Selene, was roaring and warm. Despite this, Selene was still bundled up in two coats, two scarves, three pairs of socks, some heavy gloves, a hat, earmuffs (over the hat), and three pairs of pants. Klaus would've laughed at her if she hadn't ended up looking so cute…

She was sitting on one of the logs surrounding the fire, with Klaus' arm around her waist as she snuggled into his side.

"Today was fun, wasn't it, Klaus?"

"I guess." Klaus replied, "I'll be the first to admit that it was a little more chaotic than I'm used to."

"You'll just have to get used to it then." Selene laughed a bit. "Besides, if you think this was chaotic, wait until we have our own children someday."

Klaus shuddered. That was a scary thought, for one reason alone—

"Because, don't forget, dearest, that I want at least a dozen!"

Merlin, who was sitting nearby, chuckled, "Good luck Klaus. You'll need it."

Klaus sighed, "Don't I know it."


	14. Midwinter 2016

Okay, just so you all know, this takes place approximately in the middle of the beginning (or the beginning of the middle) of Elemental Book 2, Halfling. There won't be any spoilers (I hope) and I'll try not to make you guys confused. A little backstory:

At this point, Selene's been through a lot and she's still exhausted. She's finally back at the academy, though, about a week into Winter Break (she's got a lot of catching up to do), which is about three-four weeks (I haven't quite decided yet). There won't be many of the other characters (excepting Klaus, of course) who are involved, and they'll only be mentioned in passing.

Oh, and unlike many of the other specials, this one will be in first person. And it won't be all that long either...but I like the way it ended.

* * *

Midwinter (Christmas) Special 2016

I'm back. The academy looks just how I left it, only with less people—it was practically abandoned at the moment. It's only a little colder, and unlike back home, there's no snow. I'm perfectly fine with that.

I'm wandering through the edges of the school. Philyra is back in our dorm room, and I've yet to meet Elias' new buddy (and, apparently, his new girlfriend) as she and Elias aren't getting back from her place until tomorrow.

I notice a poster on one of the boards, all flashy. It's advertising a dance that took place at the very beginning of the Midwinter break, about a week ago. Ha. Just missed it, didn't I. And while I'm not unhappy with not having to get all fancied up—because of course it had been a formal dance, unlike the one back at Halloween—I'm kind of sorry I missed it. It would've been fun, being able to hang out with my friends, and of course, it would've been nice to dance with Klaus.

I find myself in front of the auditorium, where the dance was held. I open the door and walk inside, leaving it open behind me to illuminate the dark room. The completely empty dark room. No leftover decorations, no mess. Perks of being a magical school.

"What are you doing here?"

Klaus. I don't even turn around, "There was a dance. I missed it, by a little bit."

"You did. It's not such a big deal. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just kind of wish I would've had the chance to dance with you, you know? I bet you suck at dancing." It's a half-hearted tease and we both know it.

I hear him walk up behind me and feel his arms wrap around me waist as he whispers into my ear, "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Hate to burst your bubble, but I happen to be an expert at ballroom dancing."

"Would you like to prove it?"

"In the silence of the dark ballroom?"

"Sure. Why not. But it doesn't have to be silent." I pulled my phone out from my skirt's waistband and unlocked it, tapping it a couple of times as Klaus watched me over my shoulder. A few seconds later, a slow waltz or sorts started to play. I removed herself from Klaus arms and leaned the phone against a pillar before turning and walking back over to him.

Klaus smiled slightly, holding out his hand to me, "Might I have this dance, milady?"

"You might." I took his hand and squeezed it gently. He brought it to his lips and tenderly kissed the back of it, never breaking eye contact.

I put my free hand on his shoulder and he put his on my waist. He led us through the slow one-two-three-four steps of the classic waltz.

…. …. ….

We danced that night for almost two hours, going from one slow song to the next. We ended up just swaying as I leaned on his chest. After everything that had happened in the past month or so, I couldn't really remember the last time I felt so relaxed, so at ease and peaceful.

Or so in love.


	15. That Time of the Month (2016)

Okay, not to be rude or anything, but I'm going to assume that most, if not all, of my readers are female. This is a random short that just popped into my head because of something my friend did at lunch. All the girls know about the pain that lasts arpox. five days a month, right? Well, I got to thinking about Selene's monthlies reactions when a really good friend of mine and I both started within 24 hours of each other. It's a proven fact that females that spend a lot of time together, particularly if they live together, will start at about the same time. My friend, R, get the super bad cramps and high emotions (went from sobbing to laughing hysterically in, ah, five minutes, I believe? I get super hungry, and I have to make sure to take a few pain pills when I start, but that's about it. Contrasts, am I right?) That's right, folks. The monthlies sinc. And when I got to thinking about Selene's, like I said, I kind of image then to be the more violent ones. Not as in where she's a mafia girl, but more like her emotions run rampant and she'll stuff her face with junk food. That being said, watch all the confusion of her many male friends.

Written in the third person, takes place a little while after her acceptance.

* * *

 _That_ Time of the Month

"Yikes, are you sure you can make it through class today?" Amelia asked her.

"Yeah," Selene replied, "I'll be fine. My sisters sent me painkillers, so I don't have to worry about cramping. I'm sure my emotional status can be contained. Actually, probably not, but oh well. It'll be worse if I stayed holed up all day in the room." She had been curled in the bathroom clutching her abdomen half the night as she felt wave after wave of pain and nausea slam into her.

Amelia gave her a hug, "Well, good luck. You make me glad mine are as easy as they are."

"Enjoy them. Yours are super easy, you lucky duck. At least I'm not bedridden like my sister Marie always is. She literally can't leave the bed until day three." Selene laughed, "And I've got more snacks than usual stuffed into my bag, so hopefully I'll be fine. I'm only a mess on Day One, so tomorrow won't be a problem. See you."

"Bye."

Selene and Amelia parted ways, each going to their respective classes.

Selene made it through most of the day, only a little differently than she usually did. Meaning, she hugged Elias and cooed over him and "his adorableness" a little more than normal, pouted and yelled at Luca when he wouldn't stop teasing her, and took a short nap by the lake at lunch while Yukiya read off to the side. The real trouble came in her last hour. Professor G had to substitute for a higher level class, so Klaus took over his last hour. It was a study hall anyway, so there wasn't much to actually do. There were only a few people actually studying/doing homework, and most of the class either read or chatted.

Selene was one of the readers. She was rereading _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ , and was nearing the end. Page 636, to be exact.

Elias stopped studying when he heard sniffles behind him, and turned around just in time to see Selene burst into tears and throw her book at the ground, causing the whole class to stop what they were doing and look over.

"FRED!" She wailed, "NOOOOOOOO!" She went on crying about "killing one twin and leaving the other to see his dead brother" and how "he was one of my favorite characters and he's dead!" as well as sobbing into her hands about the cruelty of it all. People were freaking out, because most of what she said was in English. Klaus rushed over and tried to figure out what was going on and restore order to the class.

Only Selene wouldn't—well, she really couldn't, could she?—calm down. Eventually Elias and Yukiya had to pretty much carry her to the nurse's office while she wailed. Klaus wanted to go make sure she was alright, but had to stay with the class.

…. …. ….

"Oh dear," the nurse said kindly, "here, let's get you into a bed."

Yukiya and Elias lifted the emotional wreck of a girl into the bed, where she curled up and whimpered.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. We were having a study hall, and she was reading a book. I suddenly hear sniffling and turn around only to see her start sobbing and throw her book on the ground." Elias looked pretty freaked out, in comparison to Yukiya's blank face. Yuki knew exactly what was going on. It may have been two years since he'd seen them, but he did have younger sisters.

The nurse turned to Selene, "Is it that time, dear?"

Selene nodded, hiccuping. The nurse handed her a box of tissues before turning to the boys, "She'll be alright. You two can head back to class."

They nodded and headed back.

…. …. ….

Klaus looked up again as the two boys returned, giving them a look that told them to explain.

"The nurse said she'll be okay. She mention something about it being 'that time' or something like that." Elias told him, completely unaware of what it meant.

Klaus sighed, "Oh geeze. What a bother. You two can go sit. Make sure to gather up her stuff. I'll bring it to her after class."

They walked back towards their seat, while Luca, who'd overheard (read: listened in) started snickering, because he knew of Elia's ignorance.

"What's so funny, Luca?" Elias said dryly.

"Oh, nothing too important. Just the fact that you don't know what you said up there." Luca waved one hand at him while the other made an attempt to stifle his laughter.

"I know exactly what I said, thank you!" Elias glared.

"Ha! No, you don't, or you'd be blushing to the sun." Luca retorted.

Yukiya sighed and leaned over to whisper in Elias' ear, causing the blond to promptly turn red and the green-haired boy to start laughing again.


	16. April Fools 2017

Other than the fact that it's my birthday today, I wanted had the idea for this and wanted to type it. I decided to make Aurora's birthday the same as mine, 'cause why not? This takes place the spring before Aurora heads off to school, on her fifteenth birthday.

Written just before posting: I am so sorry. I meant to post this yesterday, but got busy. Forgive me. I will post tomorrow like I should.

* * *

April Fools Special 2017—Not the First, Yet Still the Oldest

"Your parents are always so extravagant with your birthday parties, Rory." Lilith March said, nudging her friend.

Aurora sighed, "I keep telling my mom that I want it to be quiet, but she always plans this huge affair. I have no clue why. It's not the worst thing, though. It could be far worse. But just once I'd like it if she just made a nice dinner and a cake and that was it. No fancy decorations, no outdoor games, not so many people; maybe just a few friends, the immediate family. No fanfare."

Selene listened to the conversation her oldest daughter had with her friend, and smiled, but it wasn't the wide, happy smile she'd been wearing all day. This one was smaller, almost sad. She shook her head, clearing away her thoughts and replacing her happy smile. She walked up to the two, "Want some lil' sandwiches before Kay and Kai steal them all? I swear, those two are always eating."

Lilith laughed as she turned around, "Thanks, Aunt Selene. I mean, Kay must take after your appetite the way Kai takes after dad's."

Selene laughed, "Good point. Oh, your mom was looking for you. Something about glitter?"

Lilith's eyes widened, "Crap! I forgot! See you later, Rory!" Lilith grabbed a couple sandwiches and jogged off.

"You overheard, didn't you?" Aurora said.

"You and your father, both straight to the point." Selene smiled, "I did. And I think it's time you know why. Come on, let's take a seat. I'm tired."

Aurora followed her mother as she set down the tray on a nearby table before heading over to the little gazebo at the back of the large yard. No one was there, preferring the excitement closer towards the house. Selene sat down, and patted the seat next to her, which Aurora took.

Selene wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders. "Oh, my beautiful, wonderful girl. I'm so glad you're alive. So, so glad."

"What else would I be, mom?" Aurora laughed, hugging her mother back.

"A miscarriage. A failed C-section. Stillborn." Her mother whispered.

Aurora froze. "Huh?"

"That's why I always throw big parties celebrating the life of every single one of my children." Selene said, looking into Aurora's eyes with such an intensity the girl wanted to look away but couldn't seem to bring herself to do it. "You're the oldest, Aurora, but you're not the first. You should have three older brothers and a big sister."

Aurora was slack-jawed, completely unsure of how to respond to this sudden revelation. It took her a few moments before she was able to respond. "What happened, mom? Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because it's hard, sweetie, hard to think about, hard to remember. But I think you're old enough, mature enough to know.

"Back when you're father and I were married, we weren't entirely sure I'd be able to have kids. Your grandfather, my biological father, wasn't sure either—and before you interrupt, I can't say more about him, and I'm sorry for telling you he was dead all these years. Anyhow, we didn't think I'd be able to conceive. But then I got pregnant. I was so happy. But not even a year after I married, the child was a miscarriage. His name would be Asher, if he had lived. This disheartened me, and your father, but it also gave us hope that maybe we could end up with a healthy child." Aurora watched as her mother, who seemed unaware of her movement, rubbed her slightly swollen belly. She was due not long after Aurora would start school the next year.

"And soon after, I got pregnant again. This time, they were twins. A boy and a girl. Their names are Walter and Twila, after your dad's father and my mother's middle name. But, a few weeks before I was due, something went wrong and I was rushed to a Terran hospital for an emergency c-section. The twins didn't make it. The hospital staff also had to have their memories of it erased because of reasons I can't tell you yet. Soon, I can, but not yet."

Selene was near tears, and it frightened Aurora. Her mother had always been so strong, to see her crying, genuinely crying...Aurora felt a deep-rooted pain in her chest at the sight. She reached and wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging her.

It was a while before Selene continued, "After that, we tried one more time. We didn't plan to try again if it didn't work. This one lasted longer than the others, but the baby only lived a few hours before it's heart stopped beating. We named him Cadeyrn. I got to hold him, unlike the first three. It was months until I was able to bring myself out of the heartbreak and depression I fell into. It took all of my family and friends to help lift me out of the grey blur my life had become."

"You said you weren't going to try again. But you've got nine kids and another coming."

Selene wrapped her arms around Aurora, holding her tightly, "Because we didn't. You were an accidental miracle, unexpected. You were healthy, strong, and so, so wonderfully loud. It gave me hope, and here we are, fifteen years later. You've got all sorts of little siblings, and you've turned into such a wonderful young woman. I'm so proud of you, Aurora, so immensely proud that I can't even convey it. Did you know Uncle Inan told me a prediction about you? Right before I turned seventeen."

"Really?" Aurora knew her Uncle Inan had a strong gift of prophecy, but he rarely shared anything other than vague minor details—he had explained to Aurora only a few months ago as to why, and how dangerous messing with time could be.

"Yeah. It was at a time where I had recently experienced a big shock, and I was scared of my magic, that I wouldn't be able to control it, that I would hurt someone. He told me a little of my future to cheer me up. It was about you. I didn't realize it until after you were born, when I remembered it and made the connection."

"What was it?" Aurora said.

Her mother looked at her and smiled, "He said that you'll go off to school and have some interesting adventures. That'd you'd meet an unexpected ancestor. That it would all end well. And I don't doubt it one bit, not after knowing you and watching you grow up. You're meant for grand things, love, and you'll pull them off smashingly. And now I've somehow slipped into a British accent. Well then."

Both of them laughed, Selene hugging her daughter one more time. "You better get going, Rory, it's your party, and it looks like Lily is looking for you, too. Go have some fun, and eat all the sweets your father is trying so hard to keep me from eating. Eat loads for me, okay?"

"Sure thing, mom." Rory stood up, but turned around to give her mother one last hug. "Thanks for telling me about that, mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." Selene watched as her daughter ran off to rejoin her friend. She felt a strong arm slip around her waist as someone sat next to her. "Hello, Klaus."

"You've told her, then?" He said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I did. She's old enough. And it won't be too long before I tell her more, about her heritage. She'll need to know of it before she goes off to the academy. Especially since I've noticed how strong her wind spells tend to be. She's got Elemental blood in her veins, Klaus. She takes after my father in her magic."

"It'll be an interesting thing, to get to teach her." He said, placing his free hand on his wife's stomach.

"All of our children are interesting. It's the most amazing thing, isn't it? And one day, after we are all long and gone, far in the future, we'll all be a big family again, every one of us. Us and _all_ of our children." Selene smiled, "I can scarcely wait."


	17. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Okay, so I have to say that Avatar: The Last Airbender is literally the show of my childhood. I loved it. Still do, even if I haven't seen it in a while (I'm planning on watching it again sometime soon). I like to think of it as what inspired my love of the elements very early on—I was an instant fan, and first watched it as it was first airing in the US. It's been one of my favorites for almost forever. So, in a moment of charged-inspiration, I wrote this. It takes place at least in Halfling, maybe after that, I don't know. It's quite a while after Elemental. It's not long but I had fun with it.

* * *

 _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ —or, rather, _Selene: The Halfling Avatar Wannabe_

Klaus was conversing with Merlin over a cup of tea when there was a series of thumps. Selene soon ran into the kitchen, huge grin on her face.

"What did you do?" Merlin deadpanned.

"I found the DVD collections for all three seasons of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. I spent yesterday binge-watching them all. I want to try it."

Klaus looked over at Merlin, "Explain?"

"It's a TV show she adored as a kid. We all liked it, but she loved it. It was literally her favorite thing ever as a child." Merlin shook his head, "It's about people who can manipulate elements, but there's one person every generation who can manipulate all four, and they are called the Avatar. There are four nations, one for each element. The air nation had been pretty much wiped out by the fire nation, except for the avatar, who was born into the air nation and escaped death by being locked in ice for a century. He's woken up by a girl who can waterbend, and she, her brother, and the Avatar start making journeying around the world. They end up defeating the fire nation and ending the century old war. Blah, blah, blah, that's pretty much the point. It was actually pretty funny, though." He looked over at Selene, "Just what is it you want to try?"

"Air bending! And fire bending! I mean, I can use those two elements without a wand, now." Her eyes were shining with an excited light. "I want to try the dragon dance, at least. I still know it, but I've never actually tried it with magic. I'm going to do it. Today. It's almost lunch, so it's the perfect time. We can go to the blow-up clearing! Come with me! Mer, please please please record it!" She looked at them with wide, pleading eyes and a little pout on her mouth.

Merlin sighed, "Fine. But it better not take forever."

…. …. ….

Clapping rang through the family room as the video on the TV ended. Well, clapping and laughing.

"Selene, you can't be grinning wildly while doing something like the dragon dance!" Wade laughed.

"She tried, but couldn't keep a straight face. She was having way too much fun." Merlin said.

Just then, Matthew walked in holding two large bowl filled with slices of watermelon, declaring, "The melon lord has arrived!"

All of Selene's siblings, and several of her nephews (and even the little niece), started laughing. Selene bounced over to snatch some but Matthew dogged, "Patience, twinkle-toes." Which caused another round of laughter.

"Melon's will never be as awesome as cactus juice!" someone shouted, spurring yet another round.

Klaus wasn't been sure how to feel about any of this, and was entirely confused, not understand the references everyone had been throwing around. But watching Selene preform had been interesting to watch. Selene had noticed his confusion, and, unbeknownst to him, had made plans to have him binge watch it (even though she had done it the previous day, she was more than willing to do it again) with her.

Oh yes, it would not be long before Klaus knew all the references. Selene had a sly smile on her lips and she finally managed to snatch a slice of watermelon, and it wasn't because of the fruit.


	18. The Silver Flame

Hey! So this is just a placeholder for the story that was originally here, _The Silver Flame_. It's been broken up and posted as it's own separate story with the hopes of later being added to. So check it out there!


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